Microwave Radio Links

After a period when optical links appeared to become the solution to all transmission problems, the ongoing revolution in the telecommunications sector and the advances in technology have brought microwave links back to center stage.
* Detailed comparison of ITU (International Telecommunications Union) and North American frequency hierarchies, an important topic that has been inadequatly covered
* Contains end -of-chapter problem sets and a solutions manual Includes extensive discussion of error control codes List of Figures.

List of Tables.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

Propagation.

Fading.

Analog Links.

Digital Links.

Error Control Codes.

Link Design.

Appendix A: Detailed Frequency Plans.

Appendix B: Signal-to-Noise Ratio in Angle Modulation.

Appendix C: Costs.

Appendix D: Link Calculations.

Index.

“This newly revised edition of the classic Artech House book, “Microwave Radio Transmission Design”, provides a current, comprehensive treatment of the subject with a focus on applying practical knowledge to real-world networks . . . This practical book offers proven advice that helps save engineers time and money when developing new networks, and reduces the risk of encountering problems during design and planning.” (Voip-video, 11 November 2012)

"This book introduces the reader to the principles and the design of microwave links." (Microwave Journal, May 2003)

CARLOS SALEMA earned his PhD in electrical engineering in 1972 from the University of London. He is presently Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), in Lisbon, Portugal, where he lectures on telecommunication systems and aperture antennas. A coherent and comprehensive introduction to the design of microwave links

As frequency increases and wavelength decreases, practical antennas get more and more directive and most of the transmitted power is confined to a progressively narrowing beam. Very high capacity (orver 1,000 telephone channels) links may be established at frequencies above about 1 GHz given the large bandwidth available. The absence of a physical connection together with the very high capacity of such high frequency links make microwave radio relay links an attractive alternative to fiber optic cables in many situations. The ongoing revolution in the telecommunications sector and the advances in technology have brought microwave links to center stage. They are becoming increasingly popular, not only to interconnect base stations for cellular radio, but also as a means to offer fixed broadband access to the end user.

Analog and Digital Microwave Links: From Theory to Design introduces the reader to the principles and the design of microwave links. Serving both as an essential textbook for upper level engineering students and as a practical reference for the practicing engineer, the book thoroughly discusses the subject of microwave links (which recently has been more widely known as Fixed Wireless Access, or FWA), from the basic concepts of free space propagation and aperture antennas, through the transmission of analog and digital signals in noisy (and fading) channels, right to the design specification and costing of links.

Among the topics covered are:

• A brief historic review of microwave links
• The techniques and hardware required
• The principles upon which frequency plans are based
• Propagation in the atmosphere in stable and varying atmospheric conditions
• Error control codes
• Applicable International Telecommunications Union recommendations
• Radio frequency assignments and the digital hierarchy in use in North America and how they differ significantly from the European case