Chapter 16 - Microwave Radio Communication

Abstract

This chapter describes microwave radio communication. Microwave system design is regarded as a tradeoff of many factors. Some of these are a function of state-of-the-art equipment parameters. Other factors are independent of equipment design. These include interference and radio path fading. Design is often complicated by the fact that most systems are designed as multiple transmitter or receiver pairs cascaded to provide transmission between two remote locations. The effect of cascading the equipment significantly complicates designing systems to meet specific performance objectives. The chapter also provides an overview of these major factors. Most analog radio systems are FM frequency division multiplex (FDM) configurations. Detailed analog radio system design is done on the basis of a detailed end-to-end noise performance objective. Final noise performance objectives are determined based on appropriate domestic or CCIR objectives. It is noted that the performance is determined by the worst-case noise. This noise occurs when one or more of the radio system paths experience a partial loss of the received signal level.