Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Digital Microwave Communication Principl
Digital Microwave Communication Principl
Digital Microwave Communication Principl
Communication Principles
www.huawei.com
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Learning Guide
Microwave communication is developed on the basis of the electromagnetic field
theory.
Therefore, before learning this course, you are supposed to have mastered the
following knowledge:
Network communications technology basics
Electromagnetic field basic theory
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Objectives
After this course, you will be able to explain:
Concept and characteristics of digital microwave communications
Functions and principles of each component of digital microwave equipment
Common networking modes and application scenarios of digital microwave
equipment
Propagation principles of digital microwave communication and various
types of fading
Anti-fading technologies
Procedure and key points in designing microwave transmission link
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Contents
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Transmission Methods
in Current Communications Networks
Coaxial cable communication
Microwave TE
MUX/DEMUX Microwave MUX/DEMUX
communication
Satellite communication
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Microwave Communication
vs. Optical Fiber Communication
Microwave Communication Optical Fiber Communication
Powerful space cross ability, little land Optical fiber burying and land
occupied, not limited by land privatization occupation required
Strong protection ability against natural Outdoor optical fiber maintenance required
disaster and easy to be recover and hard to recover from natural disaster
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Definition of Microwave
Microwave
Microwave is a kind of electromagnetic wave. In a broad sense, the
microwave frequency range is from 300 MHz to 300 GHz. But In microwave
communication, the frequency range is generally from 3 GHz to 30 GHz.
According to the characteristics of microwave propagation, microwave can
be considered as plane wave.
The plane wave has no electric field and magnetic field longitudinal
components along the propagation direction. The electric field and magnetic
field components are vertical to the propagation direction. Therefore, it is
called transverse electromagnetic wave and TEM wave for short.
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Development of Microwave Communication
Transmission
capacity SDH digital microwave
155M bit/s/ch) communication system
1970s
1950s
Note:
Small capacity: < 10M
Medium capacity: 10M to 100M
Large capacity: > 100M
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Concept of Digital
Microwave Communication
Digital microwave communication is a way of transmitting digital information in
atmosphere through microwave or radio frequency (RF).
Microwave communication refers to the communication that use microwave as carrier .
Digital microwave communication refers to the microwave communication that adopts the digital
modulation.
The baseband signal is modulated to intermediate frequency (IF) first . Then the intermediate
frequency is converted into the microwave frequency.
The baseband signal can also be modulated directly to microwave frequency, but only phase shift
keying (PSK) modulation method is applicable.
The electromagnetic field theory is the basis on which the microwave communication theory is
developed.
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Microwave Frequency Band
Selection and RF Channel Configuration (1)
Generally-used frequency bands in digital microwave transmission:
7G/8G/11G/13G/15G/18G/23G/26G/32G/38G (defined by ITU-R Recommendations)
34/140/155 Mbit/s
2/8/34/140/155 Mbit/s
GHz
1 2 3 4 5 8 10 20 30 40 50
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Microwave Frequency Band
Selection and RF Channel Configuration (2)
In each frequency band, subband frequency ranges, transmitting/receiving spacing (T/R
spacing), and channel spacing are defined.
Frequency range
f0 (center frequency)
Low frequency band High frequency band
T/R spacing
Protection T/R spacing
spacing
f1 f2 fn f1 ’ f2 ’ fn ’
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Microwave Frequency Band
Selection and RF Channel Configuration (3)
Frequency range (7425M–7725M)
f0 (7575M)
T/R spacing: 154M
28M
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Digital Microwave
Communication Modulation (1)
Digital baseband signal is the unmodulated digital signal. The baseband signal cannot be
directly transmitted over microwave radio channels and must be converted into carrier signal
for microwave transmission.
Channel bandwidth
Modulation
Service signal
transmitted
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Digital Microwave
Communication Modulation (2)
The following formula indicates a digital baseband signal being converted into a digital
frequency band signal.
ASK: Amplitude Shift Keying. Use the digital baseband signal to change the carrier amplitude
(A). Wc and φ remain unchanged.
FSK: Frequency Shift Keying. Use the digital baseband signal to change the carrier frequency
(Wc). A and φ remain unchanged.
PSK: Phase Shift Keying. Use the digital baseband signal to change the carrier phase (φ). Wc
and A remain unchanged.
QAM: Quadrature Amplitude Modulation. ). Use the digital baseband signal to change the
carrier phase (φ) and amplitude (A). Wc remains unchanged.
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Microwave Frame Structure (1)
RFCOH
171.072 Mbit/s
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Microwave Frame Structure (2)
RFCOH is multiplexed into the STM-1 data and a block multiframe is formed. Each multiframe
has six rows and each row has 3564 bits. One multiframe is composed of two basic frames. Each
basic frame has 1776 bits. The remaining 12 bits are used for frame alignment.
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I b I I C2 I I I I I a I I b I I C2
I I C1 I I C1 I I C1 I I C1 I I C1 I I C1 I I C1 I I C1
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Questions
What is microwave?
What are the frequently used modulation schemes? Which are the most
frequently used modulation schemes?
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Contents
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Microwave Equipment Category
MUX/DEMU
X Mode PDH SDH
(Discontinued)
Trunk radio
Structure
Split-mount radio
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Trunk Microwave Equipment
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All Outdoor Microwave Equipment
IF cable
• Installation is easy.
IF and baseband
processing unit
• The equipment room
can be saved.
Service and power cable
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment (1)
The RF unit is an outdoor unit (ODU).
Antenna
The IF, signal processing, and
MUX/DEMUX units are integrated in the
indoor unit (IDU). The ODU and IDU are IF cable
connected through an IF cable.
ODU
The ODU can either be directly mounted (Outdoor Unit)
onto the antenna or connected to the
antenna through a short soft waveguide.
IDU
Although the capacity is smaller than the (Indoor Unit)
trunk, due to the easy installation and
maintenance, fast network construction,
it’s the most widely used microwave
equipment. Split-mount microwave
equipment
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment (2)
Unit Functions
Antenna: Focuses the RF signals transmitted by ODUs and increases the signal gain.
services.
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment
– Installation
antenna (separate
mount)
ODU
Soft waveguide
中频口
IDU IF port
IDU IF port
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Microwave Antenna (1)
Microwave antenna diameters includes: 0.3m, 0.6m, 1.2m, 1.8m,2.0m, 2.4m, 3.0m, 3.2metc.
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Microwave Antenna (2)
2 Dimension 3 Dimension
Side lobe
Main lobe
The side lobes can cause interference with adjacent point-to-point links and
consequently must be minimized through careful antenna design and installation.
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Microwave Antenna (3)
Radome is a radio-frequency transparent cover used to protect the antenna from such things
as wind load, snow and ice, or dust build-up that would otherwise cause excessive mechanical
stress on the tower structure and undesirable radiation pattern distortion. Significantly reduces
the wind load of an antenna system by preventing the dish and shield from “catching” wind.
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Microwave Antenna (4)
“Standard”
Side lobe
Main lobe
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Microwave Antenna (5)
“High performance”
Absorbing
Material
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Microwave Antenna (6)
“Standard”
“High
Performance”
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Microwave Antenna (7)
Different frequency channels in same frequency band can share one antenna.
Channel Channel
1 1
T
x 1 1
Rx
n n
T
x n n
Rx
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Microwave Antenna (8)
SALIENT FEATURES OF MICROWAVE ANTENNA
Narrow / Sharp Beam Formation
Low Spill Over
Low Back Lobe Radiation
High Directive/Bore Sight Efficiency
Low Side Lobes
High Cross Polarization Discrimination
High Front to Back Ratio
Low VSWR
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Antenna Adjustment (1)
Side lobe
Side view
Side lobe
Top view
Half-power angle Main lobe Tail lobe
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Antenna
AntennaAdjustment
Adjustment(2)
(2)
During antenna adjustment, change the direction vertically or
horizontally. Meanwhile, use a multimeter to test the RSSI at the
receiving end. Usually, the voltage wave will be displayed as
shown in the lower right corner. The peak point of the voltage
wave indicates the main lobe position in the vertical or horizontal
direction. Large-scope adjustment is unnecessary. Perform fine
adjustment on the antenna to the peak voltage point.
The antennas at both ends that are well aligned face a little bit Angle
upward. Though 1–2 dB is lost, reflection interference will be Side lobe position
avoided. Main lobe position
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Antenna
AntennaAdjustment
Adjustment(3)
(3)
During antenna adjustment, the two wrong
requirements.
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment
– Antenna (1)
Antenna gain
Definition: Ratio of the input power of an isotropic antenna Pio to the input power of a parabolic
antenna Pi when the electric field at a point is the same for the isotropic antenna and the parabolic
antenna.
2
P D
Calculating formula of antenna gain: G io
Pi
Half-power angle
Usually, the given antenna specifications contain the gain in the largest radiation (main lobe)
direction, denoted by dBi. The half-power point, or the –3 dB point is the point which is deviated
from the central line of the main lobe and where the power is decreased by half. The angle between
the two half-power points is called the half-power angle.
Calculating formula of half-power angle: 0.5 (650 ~ 700 )
D
Half-power angle
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment
– Antenna (2)
Cross polarization discrimination
Suppression ratio of the antenna receiving heteropolarizing waves, usually, larger than 30 dB.
XdB = 10lgPo/Px
Po: Receiving power of normal polarized wave
Px: Receiving power of abnormal polarized wave
Attenuation degree of the receiving capability in a direction of an antenna compared with that in the
main lobe direction. An antenna protection ratio of 180° is called front-to-back ratio.
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment
– ODU (1)
ODU system architecture
Uplink IF/RF conversion
IF
Frequency Sideband Power RF
amplificat
mixing filtering amplification attenuation
ion
Local
oscillation Power
ATPC
(Tx) detection
Local
oscillation RF loop
(Rx)
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment
– ODU (2)
Specifications of Transmitter
Working frequency band
Generally, trunk radios use 6, 7, and 8 GHz frequency bands. 11, 13 GHz and
higher frequency bands are used in the access layer (e.g. BTS access).
Output power
The power at the output port of a transmitter. Generally, the output power is 15 to
30 dBm.
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment
– ODU (3)
Local frequency stability
If the working frequency of the transmitter is unstable, the demodulated effectived
signal ratio will be decreased and the bit error ratio will be increased. The value
range of the local frequency stability is 3 to 10 ppm.
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment
– ODU (4)
Specifications of Receiver
Working frequency band
Receivers work together with transmitters. The receiving frequency on the local
station is the transmitting frequency of the same channel on the opposite station.
Noise figure
The noise figure of digital microwave receivers is 2.5 dB to 5 dB.
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment
– ODU (5)
Passband
To effectively suppress interference and achieve the best transmission quality, the
Selectivity
especially the interference from adjacent channels, image interference and the
Automatic control of receiver gain. With this function, input RF signals change within a
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment
– ODU (6)
Frequency range (7425M–7725M)
f0(7575M)
T/R spacing: 154M ODUs are of rich
types and small
volume. Usually,
ODUs are produced
Subband A Subband B Subband C Subband A Subband B Subband C by small
manufacturers and
integrated by big
manufacturers.
7442 7498
Non-primary station Primary station
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Split-Mount Microwave Equipment
– IDU
Service
channel
IF unit
Tributary
unit
Microwave Tx IF
Modulat
frame
ion
multiplexing
Cross-
connect
ion From/to ODU
Cable interface
Microwave Rx IF
frame Demodu
demultiplexing lation
Line unit
Service
O&M channel
interface
Supervision and control
Power
interface
DC/DC conversion
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Questions
What types are microwave equipment classified into?
What units do the split-mount microwave equipment have? And what are
their functions??
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Summary
Classification of digital microwave equipment
Components of split-mount microwave equipment and their
functions
Antenna installation and key specifications of antennas
Functional modules and key performance indexes of ODU
Functional modules of IDU
Signal flow of microwave transmission
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Contents
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Common Networking Modes of
Digital Microwave
Add/Drop
network
Hub network
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Types of Digital Microwave Stations
• Digital microwave stations are classified into Pivotal stations, add/drop relay stations, relay
stations and terminal stations.
Relay Add/Drop
station relay station
Terminal station
Terminal
station
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Types of Relay Stations
• Back-to-back antenna
Passive
• Plane reflector
Relay station
• Regenerative repeater
Active • IF repeater
• RF repeater
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Active Relay Station
Radio Frequency relay station
An active, bi-directional radio repeater system without frequency shift. The RF relay
station directly amplifies the signal over radio frequency.
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Passive Relay Station
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Plane Reflector Passive Relay Station (1)
Plane reflector passive relay station: A metal board which has smooth surface, proper
effective area, proper angle and distance with the two communication points. It is also a
passive relay microwave station.
a A cos 2
“a” is the effective area (m2) of the flat reflector.
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Plane Reflector Passive Relay Station (2)
Passives ( Billboard ), due to their large surface area they are prone to be shifted out of
alignment due to winds and requires realignment (causing outages or degraded performance).
Billboard systems have a very large footprint and typically causes major concerns over the
way it looks, with neighbors and planning commisions.
Passives are prone to multipath if the area behind the billboard is not clear sky. MW signals
can reflect off the hillside behind the passive and cause multipath problems. RF Repeaters
have been shown to reduce this problem significantly (50 dB improvement in C/I).
Passives can suffer from decoupling fades, especially over 6GHz. When the terminal antenna
is large, as needed for a successful passive, the beam width is very small, 0.5 ~ 0.9 degrees.
Atmospherics may cause the beam to shift position and not illuminate the passive fully or at
all. This "decoupling" of the beam causes severe fading because less beam energy is reflected.
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Plane Reflector Passive Relay Station (3)
Beamwidth of the signal exiting a passive reflector is extremely narrow, 0.1 ~ 0.2 degrees. This
narrow beam is difficult to aim and if the passive alignment shifts, the beam may miss the terminal.
Another form of decoupling fade.
MW RF Repeaters avoid decoupling fades by using more standard sized antennas with somewhat
wider beamwidths.
MW RF Repeaters have been used in a number of locations that were otherwise suitable for
passive reflectors because the RF Repeater took up less space, offered less of an objectionable view
in sensitive areas (National Parks, National Forests).
Passive reflectors work best when one path is quite short and the other is longer. MW RF
Repeaters are not limited in this way and perform will especially at mid-path locations.
Microwave RF Repeaters can operate over much longer paths than passive reflectors. Microwave
RF Repeater paths are in many cases as long as terminal to terminal paths.
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Relay Stations Comparisons
Active Relay Stations
Active or regenerating repeaters are used when the distance between terminal stations is too
great to allow a received signal of acceptable level and also when it is necessary to insert and
drop channels at points between terminal stations.
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Passive Relay Station (Photos)
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Application of Digital Microwave
Complementary
networks to optical
networks (access the
services from the last 1
km)
Special transmission
BTS backhaul conditions (rivers, lakes,
transmission islands, etc.)
Microwave
application
Emergency
communications
Redundancy backup of (conventions, activities,
important links danger elimination,
disaster relief, etc.)
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Questions
What are the networking modes frequently used for digital microwave?
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Contents
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Contents
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Key Parameters in
Microwave Propagation (1)
Fresnel Zone and Fresnel Zone Radius
Fresnel zone: The sum of the distance from P to T and the distance from P to R complies
with the formula, TP+PR-TR= n/2 (n=1,2,3, …). The elliptical region encircled by the trail
of P is called the Fresnel zone.
T O R
F1
P
d1 d2
Fresnel zone radius: The vertical distance from P to the TR line in the Fresnel zone. The
first Fresnel zone radius is represented by F1 (n=1).
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Key Parameters in
Microwave Propagation (2)
Bounded by elliptical loci of constant delay
Alternate zones differ in phase by 180
Line of sight (LOS) corresponds to 1st zone
If LOS is partially blocked, 2nd zone can destructively interfere (diffraction loss)
Path 1
Path 2
Fresnel zones are ellipses with the T&R at the foci; L 1 = L2+λ
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Key Parameters in
Microwave Propagation (3)
Direct signal
1st zone
Reflected signal
/2 180
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Key Parameters in
Microwave Propagation (4)
Direct signal
2nd zone
1st zone
Reflected signal
180
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Key Parameters in
Microwave Propagation (5)
d1 (km) d 2 (km)
Formula of the first Fresnel zone radius: F1 17.32
f (GHz ) d (km)
The first Fresnel zone is the region where the microwave transmission energy is the most
concentrated. The obstruction in the Fresnel zone should be as little as possible. With the
increase of the Fresnel zone serial numbers, the field strength of the receiving point reduces as
per arithmetic series.
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Key Parameters in
Microwave Propagation (6)
A
Clearance F
M
h3
hc B
h1 hp
hs
h5
h2
h4 h6
d1 d2
d
Along the microwave propagation trail, the obstruction from buildings, trees, and mountain peaks
is sometimes inevitable. If the height of the obstacle enters the first Fresnel zone, additional loss
might be caused. As a result, the received level is decreased and the transmission quality is affected.
Clearance is used to avoid the case described previously.
The vertical distance from the obstacle to AB line segment is called the clearance of the obstacle
on the trail. For convenience, the vertical distance hc from the obstacle to the ground surface is used
to represent the clearance. In practice, the error is not big because the line segment AB is
approximately parallel to the ground surface. If the first Fresnel zone radius of the obstacle is F 1,
then hc/ F1 is the relative clearance.
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Key Parameters in
Microwave Propagation (7)
Typically the first Fresnel zone (N=1) is used to determine obstruction loss
The direct path between the transmitter and the receiver needs a clearance above
ground of at least 60% of the radius of the first Fresnel zone to achieve free space
propagation conditions
Earth-radius factor k compensates the refraction in the atmosphere
Clearance is described as any criterion to ensure sufficient antenna heights so
that, in the worst case of refraction (for which k is minimum) the receiver antenna
is not placed in the diffraction region
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Key Parameters in
Microwave Propagation (8)
Clearance criteria to be satisfied under normal propagation
conditions
Clearance of 60% or greater at the minimum k suggested for the certain path
Clearance of 100% or greater at k=4/3
In case of space diversity, the antenna can have a 60% clearance at k=4/3 plus
allowance for tree growth, buildings (usually 3 meter)
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Factors Affecting Electric Wave Propagation
– Terrain
The reflected wave from the ground surface is the major factor that affects the received level.
Straight line
Straight line
Reflection Reflection
Smooth ground or water surface can reflect the part of the signal energy transmitted by the antenna to the
receiving antenna and cause interference to the main wave (direct wave). The vector sum of the reflected
wave and main wave increases or decreases the composite wave. As a result, the transmission becomes
unstable. Therefore, when doing microwave link design, avoid reflected waves as much as possible. If
reflection is inevitable, make use of the terrain ups and downs to block the reflected waves.
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Factors Affecting Electric Wave Propagation
– Terrain
Different reflection conditions of different terrains have different effects on electric wave
propagation. Terrains are classified into the following four types:
Type A: mountains (or cities with dense buildings)
Type B: hills (gently wavy ground surface)
Type C: plain
Type D: large-area water surface
The reflection coefficient of mountains is the smallest, and thus the mountain terrain is most
suitable for microwave transmission. The hill terrain is less suitable. When designing circuits, try
to avoid smooth plane such as water surface.
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Factors Affecting Electric Wave
Propagation – Atmosphere (1)
Troposphere indicates the low altitude atmosphere within 10 km from the ground.
Microwave antennas will not be higher than troposphere, so the electric wave propagation in
aerosphere can be narrowed down to that in troposphere. Main effects of troposphere on
electric wave propagation are listed below:
Absorption caused by gas resonance. This type of absorption can affect the
microwave at 12 GHz or higher.
Absorption and scattering caused by rain, fog, and snow. This type of absorption can
affect the microwave at 10 GHz or higher.
Refraction, absorption, reflection and scattering caused by inhomogeneity of
atmosphere. Refraction is the most significant impact to the microwave propagation.
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Factors Affecting Electric Wave
Propagation – Atmosphere (2)
The specific attenuation of rain is dependent on many parameters such as the
form and size of distribution of the raindrops, polarization, rain intensity and
frequency
Horizontal polarization gives more rain attenuation than vertical polarization
Rain attenuation increases with frequency and becomes a major contributor in
the frequency bands above 10 GHz
The contribution due to rain attenuation is not included in the link budget and is
used only in the calculation of rain fading
Radios with Automatic Transmitter Power Control (ATPC) have been used in
some highly vulnerable links
Vertical polarization is far less susceptible to rainfall attenuation (40 to 60%)
than are horizontal polarization frequencies.
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Contents
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Fading in Microwave Propagation
Fading: Random variation of the received level. The variation is irregular and the reasons
for this are various.
Slow fading
Fast fading
Absorption fading
Scintillation
Flat fading
Free space propagation
Rain fading
Up fading
fading
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Free Space Transmission Loss
G = Antenna gain
Power level
f A0 = Free space loss
M = Fading margin
G
PTX A0
PRX
G
M
Receiving threshold
Distance
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Absorption Fading
Molecules of all substances are composed of charged particles. These particles have their own
electromagnetic resonant frequencies. When the microwave frequencies of these substances are
close to their resonance frequencies, resonance absorption occurs to the microwave.
Statistic shows that absorption to the microwave frequency lower than 12 GHz is smaller than
0.1 dB/km. Compared with free space loss, the absorption loss can be ignored.
10dB
1dB
0.1dB
0.01dB
60GHz 23GHz 12GHz 7.5GHz 1GHz
Atmosphere absorption curve (dB/km)
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Attenuation due to Gases
1000
100
dB / km
H2O H2O
O2
10
O2
Attenuation Coefficient
1
25 g/m3
15 C
H2O H2O 7,5 g/m3
1013 hPa
0,1
0,01
10 50 100 500 1000
Radio Frequency GHz
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Rain Fading
For frequencies lower than 10 GHz, rain loss can be ignored. Only a few dB may be added
to a relay section.
For frequencies higher than 10 GHz, repeater spacing is mainly affected by rain loss. For
example, for the 13 GHz frequency or higher, 100 mm/h rainfall causes a loss of 5 dB/km.
Hence, for the 13 GHz and 15 GHz frequencies, the maximum relay distance is about 10 km.
For the 20 GHz frequency and higher, the relay distance is limited in few kilometres due to
rain loss.
High frequency bands can be used for user-level transmission. The higher the frequency
band is, the more severe the rain fading.
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K-Type Fading (1)
Atmosphere refraction
As a result of atmosphere refraction, the microwave propagation trail is bent. It is
considered that the electromagnetic wave is propagated along a straight line above the earth
with an equivalent earth radius of , = KR (R: Re earth radius.)
Re actual
The average measured K value is about 4/3. However, the K value of a specific section is
related to the meteorological phenomena of the section. The K value may change within a
comparatively large range. This can affect line-of-sight propagation.
Re
R
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K-Type Fading (2)
Microwave propagation
k = 1: No refraction
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K-Type Fading (3)
Equivalent earth radius
In temperate zones, the refraction when the K value is 4/3 is regarded as the
standard refraction, where the atmosphere is the standard atmosphere and R e which
is 4R/3 is the standard equivalent earth radius.
k=∞
4/3
1
2/3
Ground surface
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Multipath Fading (1)
Multipath fading: Due to multipath propagation of refracted waves, reflected waves,
and scattered waves, multiple electric waves are received at the receiving end. The
composition of these electric waves will result in severe interference fading.
Reasons for multipath fading: reflections due to non-uniform atmosphere, water
surface and smooth ground surface.
Down fading: fading where the composite wave level is lower than the free space
received level. Up fading: fading where the composite wave level is higher than the free
space received level.
Non-uniform atmosphere
Water surface
Smooth ground surface. Ground surface
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Multipath Fading (2)
Multipath fading grows more severe when the wave passes water surface or smooth ground
surface. Therefore, when designing the route, try to avoid smooth water and ground surface.
When these terrains are inevitable, use the high and low antenna technologies to bring the
reflection point closer to one end so as to reduce the impact of the reflected wave, or use the
high and low antennas and space diversity technologies or the antennas that are against
reflected waves to overcome multipath fading.
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Multipath Fading
– Frequency Selective Fading
Normal
Frequency (MHz)
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Multipath Fading – Flat Fading
Up fading
Received level
in free space
Threshold level
(-30 dB)
1h
Signal
interruption
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Duct Type Fading
Due to the effects of the meteorological conditions such as ground cooling in the night, burnt
warm by the sun in the morning, smooth sea surface, and anticyclone, a non-uniform structure
is formed in atmosphere. This phenomenon is called atmospheric duct.
If microwave beams pass through the atmospheric duct while the receiving point is outside
the duct layer, the field strength at the receiving point is from not only the direct wave and
ground reflected wave, but also the reflected wave from the edge of the duct layer. As a result,
severe interference fading occurs and causes interruption to the communications.
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Scintillation Fading
When the dielectric constant of local atmosphere is different from the ambient due to the particle
clusters formed under different pressure, temperature, and humidity conditions, scattering occurs
to the electric wave. This is called scintillation fading. The amplitude and phase of different
scattered waves vary with the atmosphere. As a result, the composite field strength at the
receiving point changes randomly.
Scintillation fading is a type of fast fading which lasts a short time. The level changes little and
the main wave is barely affected. Scintillation fading will not cause communications interruption.
Scintillation fading
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Summary
The higher the frequency is and the longer the hop distance is, the more severe the fading is.
Fading is more severe at night than in the daylight, in summer than in winter. In the daylight,
sunshine is good for air convection. In summer, weather changes frequently.
In sunny days without wind, atmosphere is non-uniform and atmosphere subdivision easily
forms and hardly clears. Multipath transmission often occurs in such conditions.
Fading is more severe along water route than land route, because both the reflection coefficient
of water surface and the atmosphere refraction coefficient above water surface are bigger.
Fading is more severe along plain route than mountain route, because atmosphere subdivision
often occurs over plain and the ground reflection factor of the plain is bigger.
Rain and fog weather causes much influence on high-frequency microwave.
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Contents
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (1)
Category Effect
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (2)
Frequency domain equalization
Multipath fading
Slope equalization
Signal frequency Frequency spectrum after
spectrum equalization
The frequency domain equalization only equalizes the amplitude frequency response
characteristics of the signal instead of the phase frequency spectrum characteristics.
The circuit is simple.
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (3)
Time domain equalization
Time domain equalization directly counteracts the intersymbol
interference.
T … T … T
C-n C0 Cn
After
Before
-2Ts -Ts Ts Ts
-2Ts -Ts
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (4)
Automatic transmit power control (ATPC)
Under normal propagation conditions, the output power of the transmitter is always at a
lower level, for example, 10 to 15 dB lower than the normal level. When propagation fading
occurs and the receiver detects that the propagation fading is lower than the minimum
received level specified by ATPC, the RFCOH is used to let the transmitter to raise the
transmit power.
Working principle of ATPC
ATPC ATPC
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (5)
ATPC: The output power of the transmitter automatically traces and changes with the
received level of the receiver within the control range of ATPC.
The time rate of severe propagation fading is usually small (<1%). After ATPC is configured,
the transmitter works at a power 10 to 15 dB lower than the nominal power for over 99% of
the time. In this way, adjacent channel interference and power consumption can be reduced.
Effects of ATPC:
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (6)
ATPC adjustment process (gradual change)
Received level (dBm)
High level
-35 31
-55
45 75 85 102
Link loss (dB)
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (7)
Cross-polarization interference 680MHz
cancellation (XPIC) 30MHz 340 MHz
80MHz 60MHz
In microwave transmission, XPIC is
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1’ 2’ 3’ 4’ 5’ 6’ 7’ 8’
used to transmit two different signals over
V (H)
one frequency. The utilization ratio of the
frequency spectrum is doubled. To avoid H (V)
severe interference between two different
polarized signals, the interference 680 MHz
340MHz
compensation technology must be used. 30MHz 80MHz 60MHz
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1’ 2’ 3’ 4’ 5’ 6’ 7’ 8’
Electric field direction
V
(H)
Horizontal polarization
H
(V)
1X 2X 3X 4X 5X 6X 7X 8X 1X’ 2X’ 3X' 4X’ 5X’ 6X’ 7X’ 8X’
Vertical polarization
Frequency configuration of U6 GHz frequency band (ITU-R F.384-5)
Shape of waveguide interface
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (8)
Diversity technologies
For diversity, two or multiple transmission paths are used to transmit the same information and the
receiver output signals are selected or composed, to reduce the effect of fading.
Diversity has the following types, space diversity, frequency diversity, polarization diversity, and angle
diversity.
Space diversity and frequency diversity are more frequently used. Space diversity is economical and
has a good effect. Frequency diversity is often applied to multi-channel systems as it requires a wide
bandwidth. Usually, the system that has one standby channel is configured with frequency diversity.
f1
H
f2
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (9)
Frequency diversity
f1
f2
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (10)
Space diversity
Signals have different multipath effect over different paths and thus have different fading
characteristics. Accordingly, two or more suites of antennas at different altitude levels to receive
the signals at the same frequency which are composed or selected. This work mode is called space
diversity. If there are n pairs of antennas, it is called n-fold diversity.
Advantages: The frequency resources are saved.
Disadvantages: The equipment is complicated, as two or more suites of antennas are required.
Antenna distance: As per experience, the distance between the diversity antennas is 100 to 200
times the wavelength in frequently used frequency bands.
f1
f1
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (11)
Space Diversity:
Cheaper then frequency diversity.
No protections from rain
Frequency Diversity:
Requires 2 times the bandwidth, more equipment and
complexity.
Much less effective than space diversity.
Can work on one radio while the other works ( with no
diversity)
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (11)
Rx
Dh calculation in space diversity
l /2
+
Tx nl
Dh
h1
d
Approximately, Dh can be calculated according to this formula:
(nl + l/2)d
Dh =
l: wavelength 2h1
d: path distance
h1: height of the antenna at the transmit end
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (12)
Apart from the anti-fading technologies introduced previously, here are two frequently used
tips:
Method I: Make use of some terrain and ground objects to block reflected waves.
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Anti-fading Technologies
for Digital Microwave System (13)
Method II: high and low antennas
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Protection Modes of
Digital Microwave Equipment (1)
Hybrid coupler
With one hybrid coupler added between two ODUs The 1+1 HSB can also be realized in the
and the antenna, the 1+1 HSB can be realized in the configuration of two antennas. In this case,
configuration of one antenna. Moreover, the FD the FD and SD technologies can both be
technology can also be adopted. adopted, which improves the system
availability.
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Protection Modes of
Digital Microwave Equipment (2)
ch1 M1 M1 ch1
ch2 M2 M2 ch2
ch3 M3 M3 ch3
chP P P chP
Switching Switching
control unit RFSOH control unit
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Protection Modes of
Digital Microwave Equipment (3)
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Questions
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Summary
Importance parameters affecting microwave propagation
Various fading types in the microwave propagation (free space propagation fading,
atmospheric absorption fading, rain or fog scattering fading, K type fading, multipath
fading, duct type fading, and scintillation type fading)
Anti-fading technologies
Anti-fading measures adopted on the equipment: adaptive equalization, ATPC, and XPIC
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Contents
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Contents
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Basis of Designing a Microwave Transmission Line
Transmission clearance
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Requirement on a Microwave Transmission
Line
Because the microwave is a short wave and has weak ability of diffraction, the normal
communication can be realized in the line-of-sight transmission without obstacles.
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Requirement on a Microwave Transmission
Line
In the microwave transmission, the transmit power is very small, only the antenna in the
accurate direction can realize the communication. For the communication of long distance,
use the antenna of greater diameter or increase the transmit power.
Microwave antenna
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Objective of Designing a Microwave Transmission Line
k = 4/3
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Transmission Clearance (1)
The knife-edged obstacle blocks partial of the Fresnel zone. This also causes the
diffraction of the microwave. Influenced by the two reasons, the level at the actual receive
point must be lower than the free space level. The loss caused by the knife-edged obstacle
is called additional loss.
Dif
fra ctio
n
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Transmission Clearance (2)
h1d 2 h2 d1
hc hb hs
d
hc
The value of clearance is
required greater than that of h2
the first Fresnel Zone’s
hs
radius.
h1
hb stands for the projecting d1 hb d2
height of the earth. d
d1d 2
hb 0.0785
K
K stands for the atmosphere refraction factor.
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Transmission Clearance (4)
To present the influence of various factors on microwave transmission, the field strength
fading factor V is introduced. The field strength fading factor V is defined as the ratio of the
combined field strength when the irradiated wave and the reflected wave arrive at the receive
point to the field strength when the irradiated wave arrives at the receive point in the free space
transmission.
E 2
h
2
V 1 2 cos ce
E0 F1
E : Combined field strength when the irradiated wave and reflected wave
arrive at the receive point
E 0 : Field strength when the irradiated wave arrives at the received point in
the free space transmission
: Equivalent ground reflection factor
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Transmission Clearance (5)
The relation of the V and can be represented
by the curve in the figure on the right.
In the case that Φ is equal to 1, with the V ( dB )
10
influence of the earth considered, HC/F1 is equal to
5
0.577 when the signal receiving level is equal to 0
the free space level the first time. -5
φ=0.2
In the case that Φ is smaller than 1, HC/F1 is -10
φ=0.5
approximately equal to 0.6 when the signal -15
φ=0.8
receiving level is equal to the free space level the -20
φ=1
first time. -25
When the HC/F1 is equal to 0.577, the clearance -30
-35
is called the free space clearance, represented by
-40
H0 and expressed in the following formula:
HC/F1=N
H0 = 0.577F 1 = (λd1d2/d)1/2
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Meaning of K Value in Microwave
Transmission Planning (1)
To make the clearance cost-effective and reasonable in the engineering, the height of the
antenna should be adjusted according to the following requirements.
In the case that Φ is not greater than 0.5, that is, for the circuit that passes the area of
small ground reflection factor like the mountainous area, city, and hilly area, to avoid
over great diffraction, the height of the antenna should be adjusted according to the
following requirements:
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Meaning of K Value in Microwave
Transmission Planning (2)
In the case that Φ is greater than 0.7, that is, for the circuit that passes the area of great
ground reflection factor like the plain area and water reticulation area, to avoid over great
reflection fading, the height of the antenna should be adjusted according to the following
requirements
When K = 2/3, HC ≥ 0.3F1 (for common obstacles)
When K = 4/3, HC ≈ F1
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Procedure for Designing a Microwave
Transmission Line
Step 1 Determine the route according to the engineering map.
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Procedure for Designing a Microwave Transmission Line (1)
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Procedure for Designing a Microwave Transmission Line (2)
f1 f1 f1
f2 f2 f2
The signal from the first
microwave station
Over-reach interferes with the signal
of the same frequency
interference
from the third microwave
station.
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Procedure for Designing a Microwave Transmission Line (3)
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Procedure for Designing a Microwave Transmission Line (4)
Input
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Link Budget (1)
The link budget is a calculation involving the gain and loss factors associated with the
antennas, transmitters, transmission lines and propagation environment, to determine the
maximum distance at which a transmitter and receiver can successfully operate.
Receiver sensitivity threshold is the signal level at which the radio runs continuous errors
at a specified bit rate.
System gain depends on the modulation used (2PSK, 4PSK, 8PSK, 16QAM, 32QAM,
64QAM,128QAM,256QAM) and on the design of the radio.
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Link Budget (2)
The gains from the antenna at each end are added to the system gain (larger antennas
provide a higher gain).
The free space loss of the radio signal is subtracted. The longer the link the higher the loss.
These calculations give the fade margin.
In most cases since the same duplex radio setup is applied to both stations the calculation of
the received signal level is independent of direction.
The fade margin is calculated with respect to the receiver threshold level for a
given bit-error rate (BER).The radio can handle anything that affects the radio
signal within the fade margin but if it is exceeded, then the link could go down and
therefore become unavailable.
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Link Budget (2)
The threshold level for BER=10-6 for microwave equipment used to be about 3dB higher
than for BER=10-3. Consequently the fade margin was 3 dB larger for BER=10 -6 than
BER=10-3. In new generation microwave radios with power forward error correction
schemes this difference is 0.5 to 1.5 dB
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Questions
What extra factors should be taken into consideration for microwave planning?
Can you tell the procedure for designing a microwave transmission line?
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Thank You
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