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Radio Communication Basics
Radio Communication Basics
Radio Communication Basics
1 Mm 10 km 100 m 1m 10 mm 100 m 1 m
300 Hz 30 kHz 3 MHz 300 MHz 30 GHz 3 THz 300 THz
ITCE419 2
Frequency allocation
Some frequencies are allocated Frequency Comment
to specific uses
850-900 MHz Mobile phones
Cellular phones, analog
television/radio broadcasting, 1.8GHz, 2.1 GHz 3G
DVB-T, radar, emergency
services, radio astronomy, …
ITCE419 3
Frequency allocation
LTE operating frequency bands:
ITCE419 4
Frequency channels
7 MHz
…
527.25MHz 534.25MHz 541.25MHz 814.25MHz
ITCE419 5
Frequency channels
ITCE419 6
Transmitting data using radio waves
Basics: Transmitter can send a radio wave, receiver can
detect whether such a wave is present and also its
parameters
Parameters of a wave = sine function:
ITCE419 7
Modulation and keying
Modulation?
Data to be transmitted is used to select transmission parameters
as a function of time
These parameters modify a basic sine wave, which serves as a
starting point for modulating the signal onto it
This basic sine wave has a center frequency fc
The resulting signal requires a certain bandwidth to be
transmitted (centered around center frequency)
Example: Use data to modify the
amplitude of a carrier frequency =
Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
Note: There are many modulation
and keying techniques. ASK is
chosen as the example here
because it can be explained easily
but it is by no means the best © Tanenbaum, Computer Networks
technique
ITCE419 8
Modulation and keying- Search !
Can you discuss the difference between Frequency,
amplitude and phase modulations ???
What are the pros and cons for each of the modulation
schemes ?
ITCE419 9
Receiver: Demodulation
The receiver looks at the received wave form and matches
it with the data bit that caused the transmitter to generate
this wave form
Necessary: one-to-one mapping between data and wave form
Because of channel imperfections, this is at best possible for digital
signals
Problems caused by
Carrier synchronization: frequency can vary between sender and
receiver (drift, temperature changes, aging, …)
Bit synchronization (actually: symbol synchronization): When does
symbol representing a certain bit start/end?
Frame synchronization: When does a packet start/end?
Biggest problem: Received signal is not the transmitted signal!
ITCE419 10
Transmitted signal ~= received signal
Wireless transmission distorts any transmitted signal
Received ~= transmitted signal; results in uncertainty at receiver about
which bit sequence originally caused the transmitted signal
Abstraction: Wireless channel describes these distortion effects
Sources of distortion
Attenuation – energy is distributed to larger areas with increasing distance
Reflection/refraction – bounce of a surface; enter material
Diffraction – start “new wave” from a sharp edge
Scattering – multiple reflections at rough surfaces
Doppler fading – shift in frequencies (loss of center)
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Transmitted signal ~= received signal
Multipath propagation: radio signal reflects off objects ground, arriving ad
destination at slightly different times-
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Attenuation
Attenuation = decrease in signal strength due to distance
Transmitter Receiver 1 at Receiver 2 at
distance d1 from distance d2 (> d1)
transmitter from transmitter
The above equation only holds when the transmitter is within a certain
distance known as Friis distance from the receiver. Beyond this
Distance, we have:
ITCE419 14
Attenuation
120
Transmission power =
100mW 100
Power (mW)
to receive the signal and 60
decode it at certain
distance. 40
25
20
4
1 0.444444444
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Distance from transmitter (m)
ITCE419 15
Erroneous reception
There are two reasons why a receiver may not be able to
decode the received signal correctly
Noise at the receiver
Interference from the other transmitters
Remarks: These are very important concept to understand
because they have important implications on how wireless
networks are designed. We will discuss these implications
later.
Let us begin with the effect of noise.
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Effect of noise on reception (1)
Transmitter Receiver
+ noise
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Effect of noise on reception (2)
Noise free signal + Noise = signal available for decoding
at receiver 1 is
strong. Receiver 1
can decode the
bits are 010 even
in the presence of
noise.
signal means
receiver 2
cannot decode
the bits in the
presence of
noise.
ITCE419 18
Signal-to-noise ratio
Let
Search:
Ps = Power of the noise-free signal
Relation
Pn = Power of noise between
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is defined as SNR and
data rate ?!
ITCE419 20
Example (2)
Transmitter Receiver 1 Receiver 2 Receiver 3
ITCE419 21
Transmission range
Maximum transmission power of radios are regulated by
government
Limited radio transmission power means that receivers
beyond the transmission range cannot decode the signal
This is based on the “simplified deterministic view”
Transmission range
Receiver 2 Transmitter
Receiver 1
ITCE419 22
Interference
A receiver may not be able to decode the bits correctly if
more than one transmitter is transmitting
This is known as interference
Example:
Radio 1 is transmitting to Radio 2
If Radio 3 also transmits in exactly the same frequency channel,
then Radio 2 may not be able to decode the signal from Radio 1
Radio 1 is Radio 3
transmitting to
Radio 2
Radio 2
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Interference (2)
Radio 3 starts to
transmit at time
2.3 time unit.
ITCE419 24
Interference (2)
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Signal-to-interference-noise ratio
Let
Ps = Received power of the signal from the intended transmitter
Pi = Received power of the signal from all other transmitters
operating in the same frequency band
Pn = Power of noise
Signal-to-interference-noise ratio (SINR) is defined as
ITCE419 27
Summary
We have gone through the following concepts on radio
transmission
Frequency spectrum
Modulation and demodulation
Transmission power
Transmission range
Noise and interference
Requirement for correct decoding of signal (or reception) in terms
of signal-to-noise ratio and signal-to-interference-noise ratio
Make sure you understand these concepts as they are
fundamental in understanding the design of wireless
networks