RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training

Courses on RF Systems
  • Course:RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training
  • Course ID:RFMW3D Duration:3 days Where: Your Office (7+ Persons)
  • Available as a private, customized course for your group at your offices or ours and in some cases as a WebLive(TM) class.

  • Download Course Description (PDF)

Course Outline

RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training

PART 1 – Microwave Link Budget Analysis and Estimation

  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Radio Frequency (RF) Transmission, Reception, and Propagation
    • Glossary of common radio propagation terms and acronyms
    • Why do we need to study propagation?
    • Relationship of propagation phenomena to wireless network modeling and design
    • Theory of Radio Frequency (RF) propagation
    • Basic radio wave components: (E) and (H) fields
    • Sky wave, ground wave and sea level propagation
    • Line-of-Sight (LOS) and non-Line-of-Sight (non-LOS) propagation
    • Free space path loss models
    • Frequency and wavelength calculations
    • Basic modulation theory
    • Channel efficiency: Bits per second per hertz
    • Bit rate vs. symbol rate
    • Digital and analog modulation: Advantages and disadvantages
  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Wireless Multiple Access Methods, Applications, and Comparison
    • FDMA
    • TDMA
    • CDMA
    • OFDMA
  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Wave Propagation Factors Affecting Radio Waves – Loss Attenuation & Estimation
    • Reflection
    • Refraction
    • Scattering
    • Diffraction
    • Earth’s curvature
    • Fresnel zones
    • Absorption in terrestrial and sea environments
  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Antenna Configurations and Performance in the Context of RF Propagation Issues
    • Basic antennas: Isotropic and dipole radiators
    • Concept of antenna gain and gain references
    • Calculating and measuring antenna gain
    • Effective Radiated Power (ERP)
    • Antenna patterns
    • How antennas achieve gain
    • Reflector techniques, array techniques
    • Families of antennas used in wireless: Architecture and characteristics
    • Horizontal arrays: Yagis, log-periodics, etc.
    • Implications of propagation driving antenna selection
    • Multipath scattering in fixed and mobile clutter environment
    • Beamwidths and tilt considerations for MW antennas
    • Radiation patterns
    • Antenna gains, patterns, and selection principles
    • Practical Excel calculators for antenna Gain estimation
  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: ITU-R Propagation Models and Prediction Methods
    • Propagation over smooth earth
    • Propagation over irregular terrain
    • Propagation over rough and smooth sea level
    • Diffraction over irregular terrain
    • Reflection over smooth terrain and building walls
    • Reflection over smooth sea surface
    • Scattering over rough sea level
    • Diffraction in microwave interference (site shielding)
    • Practical exercises including:
      • MW short- and long-range outdoor land-to-land propagation characteristics
      • MW short- and long-range land-to-sea propagation characteristics
      • RF and MW under-sea (sub-marine) propagation characteristics
  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Effects of Climate
    • Refraction and variations in radio refractivity (N factor)
    • Snell’s law and the effective earth radius (K factor)
    • Rain attenuation; specific rain rate and effective path length; ITU rain attenuation model
    • Cloud and fog attenuation
    • Other atmospheric attenuation
  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Link Budget Estimation
    • Understanding the link budget equation
    • Line-of-sight (LOS) path loss models
    • Fresnel zone
    • Path loss and free space path loss
    • Antenna gain
    • Frequency considerations
    • Atmospheric, weather, and rain attenuation
    • Terrain factors
    • Multipath loss
    • Rician and Raleigh fading considerations
    • Cochannel interference
    • Transmission line loss
    • Exercise: Typical link budget calculation for a terrestrial MW link
    • Exercise: Typical link budget calculation for a sea communications MW link environment

PART 2 – Microwave Link Performance

  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Radio Performance: Propagation in a Variable Environment
    • Multipath fading
      • Rician, Raleigh and Nakagami fading
      • Threshold crossing rate and average fade duration
      • Delay spread
      • Scatter function, WSSUS model and SCRM model
      • Doppler shift effects
      • Channel coherence time and coherence bandwidth
      • Multipath fading margin
    • Dealing with channel impairments
      • Forward Error Correction (FEC)
        • Definition of coding types and coding gain
        • Types of block codes with examples: CRC and Hamming codes
        • Space-time and space-frequency block coding
        • Convolutional coding and Viterbi decoding, with example
        • Interleaving and turbo codes
        • FEC coding gains and margins
      • Interleaving gain margin
      • Channel estimation and equalization
        • Linear versus non-linear equalization
        • Transversal filter
        • Zero-forcing equalization versus minimum mean-square error
        • Decision feedback equalization and training equalizer
        • Equalization gain margin
      • Antennas Diversity
        • Diversity types: Space, frequency, angle, polarization, hybrid
        • Diversity combining and improvements over non-diversity systems
        • Power Control
  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) Coordination
    • Interference analysis for co-channel and adjacent-channel
    • Carrier-to-Interference (C/I) ratio
    • Threshold-to-interference (T/I) ratio
    • Manual and computer-aided design for intra- and inter-system interference
    • Frequency planning
    • Detailed analysis of a terrestrial RFI case
  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Throughput Estimation
    • Channel Capacity
    • IP transmission
    • Throughput estimation
  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Performance Objectives
    • ITU standards and recommendations
    • Real MW equipment parameters and characteristics
    • Availability and error rate objectives
    • Measurements of bit error rate, eye patterns, and jitter
    • Practical exercise using Excel
  • RF and Microwave (Maritime) Training: Course Recap and Q/A

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