CHAPTER 1

I. INTRODUCTION
In today’s information age, knowledge is made readily available not only through cable or
wired connections but also through wireless communications. Knowing your way back in the
mountains is no longer a problem with GPS (Global Positioning System). Communicating with
family and friends without the use of landline phones is now possible with cellular phones.
Exchanging documents can be done in a minute using Bluetooth. Even accessing the internet in
a restaurant or while commuting is now a regular thing because of Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity). And
the one thing they all have in common is that they operate in microwave frequencies. Microwaves
are electromagnetic waves with frequencies that range from approximately 500MHz to 300GHz
or more. The prefix "micro-" in "microwave" is not meant to suggest a wavelength in the
micrometers range. It only indicates that microwaves are "small" compared to waves used in
typical radio broadcasting, falling along 1.0mm to 30cm which are slightly longer than infrared
energy. The main advantage of using microwaves in communications is that it has the capacity
to carry thousands of individual information channels between two points without the need for
physical facilities such as coaxial cables or optical fibers. It also avoids the need for right-of-way
acquisition between properties and are better suited for spanning large bodies of water, going
over high mountains, or going through heavily wooded terrain that impose formidable barriers
to cable systems. But with these advantages also comes disadvantages. Due to high frequencies
employed in microwave systems, it is more difficult to analyze and design circuits and to
implement measuring techniques and conventional components. Also, microwave frequencies
propagate in a straight line, limiting their use to line-of-sight applications.
Communication system in Microwave utilizes the property that propagation approaches
an optical straight-line path. Propagation takes place in the lower ionosphere (troposphere) and
in-affected by meteorological factors such as pressure, temperature, water vapor, turbulence, and
stratification. Communication in this media are generally either line-of-sight or tropospheric
scatter. The line of sight form of radio transmission uses ultra-high frequencies developed out of
experiments with RADAR (Radio Detecting and Ranging) during the period preceding World War
II. A structure called antenna is used in guiding microwaves which is similar to a regular antenna
but with different constructions and specifications.
One of the reasons microwave links are so adaptable is that they are broadband. That
means they can move large amounts of information at high speeds. Another important quality of
microwave links is that they require no equipment or facilities between the two terminal points, so
installing a microwave link is often faster and less costly than a cable connection. Finally, they
can be used almost anywhere, as long as the distance to be spanned is within the operating range
of the equipment and there is clear path (that is, no solid obstacles) between the locations.
Microwaves are also able to penetrate rain, fog, and snow, which means bad weather doesn’t
disrupt transmission.
In fact, Microwave transmission is already fading due to the use of fiber optic cables,
greater capacity accommodation with much faster transmission, but nonetheless microwave is
still in use due to handling longer distances, point-to-point communication, easy maintenance,
relatively low total cost of ownership, cheaper to install compared to optical links, less prone to
sabotage since it is sometimes located in highlands, no cables needed and can achieve wide
bandwidth and microwaves are over the air. Microwave transmission offers great flexibility in
communications and is really necessity which is readily available and offers access to various
communication equipment such as cellular phones and other handheld devices of the kind.
Aside from those mentioned earlier, another line-of-sight application for microwaves is a
point-to-point communication link. It uses a beam of radio waves in the microwave frequency
range to transmit information between two fixed locations on the Earth. A point-to-point microwave
communication link is often employed in the form of fixed-link operator, utility private network, TV
distribution network and mobile backhaul network among other things. In the succeeding parts,
the group will design a point-to-point microwave communication link with no specific application
intended but with communication requirements identified. In this design, the specified points of
communication Simimbaan, Roxas, Isabela as the receiver site while the transmitter site can be
any location at least 25km away from the receiver site. The maximum transmit power is ()W with
a receiver IF bandwidth of 10MHz.To meet industry standard, the performance requirements
range per link should be from a minimum of 99.999% availability (about 300 seconds outage a
year) to ******% (about 125seconds outage a year).
II. Objectives
Generally, this project aims to design a Point-to-Point Microwave Communication Link with a
path length of no less 50 miles from the transceiver site (Piat, Cagayan) to transceiver (Roxas,
Cagayan) with four million pesos (Php 4,000,000.00) as the allocated budget and it. Specifically
it aims to achieve the following:
1. Discuss the factors that should be considered in the design of the microwave link in the
said locations.
2. Select possible receiver, transmitter and if necessary, repeater site locations to provide a
path link with line-of-sight (LOS).
3. Check for land availability and for possible obstructions and its height.
4. Compute for antenna tower height by considering the effective Earth bulge, land elevation,
height of obstructions (e.g. houses, commercial establishments, trees) and Fresnel
clearance.
5. Choose antenna tower based on computed height, land area, and location wind loading.
6. Choose antenna type and diameter to be used for the transmitting and receiving
antennas.
7. Choose the type of repeater, waveguide and transmission lines to be used.
8. Solve for system reliability and figure and provide a power level diagram.
9. Provide a tabulated list of the materials including description, specification, and cost.
 PREMINILARY PLANNING

I. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

A. SITE SELECTION
Site selection is the process of choosing the optimal location for an anticipated use. It
involves measuring the needs of a new project against the merits of potential locations. Since
microwave communication is a line-of-sight (LOS) communication, the first step in choosing the
location of the transmitter and receiver sites is verifying that there are no natural and man-made
obstructions between them. In cases where a straight path with no obstructions is unavailable, a
repeater can be employed to relay signals over the obstructions so that the signal can cover
longer distances. Microwave terminal sites can be a tower constructed on an existing structure
such as building rooftops or a separate tower in an elevated location. In putting up a tower on a
building rooftop, the architectural and structural plan of the building should be investigated to
determine whether the structure is adequate. The cost of building modifications to accomplish the
purpose and the possibility of future building construction along the path must also be taken into
consideration. When additional height is required and building structure is unable to support a
tower, a separate tower can be erected to mount the antenna fixtures.
For maintenance purposes, the site location should have road access from the nearest
improved road to the proposed building location. The site should also have adequate source of
power often in the form of commercial electric power of suitable secondary or distribution voltage.
Before visiting every potential terminal site, topographic maps are often used to check the terrains
for clear LOS. Topographic maps are detailed, accurate graphic representations of features that
appear on the Earth’s surface. These features can be divided into the following categories:

 Culture: roads, buildings, urban development, boundaries, railways, power

transmission lines
 Hydrography: lakes, rivers, streams, swamps, coastal flats
 Relief: mountains, valleys, slopes, depressions
 Vegetation: wooded and cleared areas, vineyards and orchards
 Toponymy: place names, water feature names, highways
Since topographic maps are only two- or three-dimensional representation of the physical
environment at a given time, it will never be entirely up to date. Therefore, terrain mapping using
topographic maps is a good starting point and is only a pre-requisite to a field survey.
In the site selection, the group used Google Earth to check for line-of-sight in choosing
potential terminal site locations. Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information
program that maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery,
aerial photography and geographic information system (GIS) 3D globe. The baseline resolution
of Google Earth is about 15 meters while the altitude resolution varies by country. Since Google
Earth is free and is readily available to students, the group used it as a preliminary tool in the site
selection. In this microwave link communication design, the required transmitter site A is
Catarauan, Piat, Cagayan. Since there are no buildings of suitable height to construct a tower on,
the group chose an empty lot along a concrete road as the transmitter site (17°04'25"N,
121°34'15"E). After establishing the transmitter site A, the group selected potential receiver sites
that are at least 50 miles away from the transceiver site as per requirement. The chosen receiver
site B is in Simimbaan, Roxas, Isabela. The receiver site (17°45'"N, 121°35'36"E) is also an empty
lot (for reasons the same as the transmitter site A) about one kilometer away from a concrete
road. Since the transmitter and receiver sites have no line-of-sight, a repeater site is also chosen.
The repeater site (17°22'08"N, 121°34'25"E) is also an empty at Lacnog, Tabuk City, Kalinga.
Given that the three sites have road access, it is assumed that transmission power lines also exist
especially if there are street lights .

II. ANTENNA HEIGHT

The antenna height at each end of the link can be determined by creating a path profile.
A path profile is a graphical representation of the path travelled by the radio waves between the
two ends of a link. Together with considering the effects of Earth bulge and Fresnel Zones, it
ensures that the link is free from obstructions.
EARTH BULGE
Although the surface of the Earth is curved, a beam of microwave energy tendsto travel in
a straight line. Thus, over some distance, there is a protuberance called the “physical Earth bulge”.
However, since microwaves propagate in air instead of free space, the beam is normally bent
downward a slight amount by atmospheric refraction. Any change in the amount of beam bending
caused by atmospheric conditions can then be expressed as change in k or effective Earth radius
factor.
 When the effects of atmospheric refraction are combined with physical Earth bulge, a
modified profile is produced, known as “effective Earth bulge”. The formula for effective Earth
bulge is given as: