Microwave radio relay
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Microwave radio relay is a technology for transmitting digital and analog signals, such as long-distance telephone calls and the relay of television programs to transmitters, between two locations on a line of sight radio path. In microwave radio relay, radio waves are transmitted between the two locations with directional antennas, forming a fixed radio connection between the two points. Long daisy-chained series of such links form transcontinental telephone and/or television communication systems.
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[edit] How microwave radio relay links are formed
Because a line of sight radio link is made, the radio frequencies used are occupied only in a narrow path between stations (with the exception of a certain radius of each station). Antennas used must have a high directive effect; these antennas are installed in elevated locations such as large radio towers in order to be able to transmit across long distances. Typical types of antenna used in radio relay link installations are parabolic reflectors, shell antennas and horn radiators, which have a diameter of up to 4 meters. The high directive effect of the antennas permits an economical use of the available frequency spectrum, despite long transmission distances.
[edit] Planning considerations
Because of the high frequencies used, a quasi-optical line of sight between the stations is generally required. Additionally, in order to form the line of sight connection between the two stations, the first Fresnel zone must be free from obstacles so that propagation of the radio waves can occur across a nearly uninterrupted path. Obstacles in the signal field cause unwanted signal absorption, and are as a result only acceptable in exceptional cases.
Obstacles, the curvature of the Earth, the geography of the area and reception issues arising from the use of nearby land (such as in manufacturing and forestry) are important issues to consider when planning radio links. In the planning process, it is essential that "path profiles" are produced, which provide information about the terrain and Fresnel zones affecting the transmission path. The presence of a water surface, such as a lake or river, in the mid-path region also must be taken into consideration as it can result in a near-perfect reflection (even modulated by wave or tide motions), creating "multi-path" distortion as the two received signals ("wanted" and "unwanted") swing in and out of phase.
The effects of atmosphere stratification cause the radio path to bend downward in a typical situation so a major distance is possible as the earth equivalent curvature increase from 6370 km to about 8500 km (a 4/3 equivalent radius effect). Rare events of temperature, humidity and pressure profile versus height, may produce large deviations and distortion of the propagation and affect transmission quality. High intensity rain and snow must also be considered as an impairment factor, especially at frequencies above 10 GHz. All previous factors make it necessary to compute suitable power margins, in order to maintain the link operative for high percentage of time, like the standard 99.99% or 99.999% used in 'carrier class' services of most telecommunication operators.
[edit] Over-horizon microwave radio relay
In over-horizon, or tropospheric scatter, microwave radio relay, unlike a standard microwave radio relay link, the sending and receiving antennas do not use a line of sight transmission path. Instead, the stray signal transmission, known as "tropo-scatter" or simply "scatter," from the sent signal is picked up by the receiving station. The signal clarity obtained by this method is dependent on the weather and other factors, and as a result a high level of technical difficulty is involved in the creation of a reliable over horizon radio relay link. Over horizon radio relay links are therefore only used in cases where standard radio relay links are unsuitable (for example, in providing a microwave link to an island).
[edit] Usage of microwave radio relay systems
While the technology initially lost its forefront position to newer technologies such as fiber-optic cable and optical radio relay link (both of which offer larger data capacities at lower cost per bit), microwave radio relay systems are being used increasingly in portable radio applications. The technology is particularly suited to this application because of lower operating costs, a more efficient infrastructure, and provision of direct hardware access to the portable radio operator.
