1. ITU Regional Workshop on SMS4DC for English Speaking countries in Africa, Abuja, Nigeria , May 2013
National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), SMS4DC work Shop, Khartoum – June 2012

2. Propagation Models In SMS4DC
Prepared by :
Eng.Yasir Mohammed Bashar

3. Radio propagation fundamentals
Propagation is a term used to explain how radio waves behave when they are transmitted, or are propagated from one point on the Earth to another.
In free space, all electromagnetic waves (radio, light, X-rays, etc.) obey the inverse-square law which states that the power density of an electromagnetic wave is proportional to the inverse of the square of the distance from a point source
Doubling the distance from a transmitter means that the power density of the radiated wave at that new location is reduced to one-quarter of its previous value.

4. Simplified Description of propagation modes

6. Types of Communications
Point to point communication: Communication provided by a link, for example, radio-relay link between two stations located at specified fixed points
Give examples of each type of communication
National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), SMS4DC work Shop, Khartoum – June 2012

7. Point-to-point Radiocommunication Link

8. Point to multipoint communication
Communication provided by links, for example, radio-relay links between single station located at specified fixed point and a number of stations located at specified fixed points.

9. Point to Area communication
Communication provided by links between a station located at a specified fixed point and any number of stations located at non-specified points in a given area which is the coverage area of the station located at the fixed point.

10. Propagation Models In SMS4DC
VHF and UHF propagation curves for the frequency range 30 -
1000 MHz
P.452
Prediction procedure for the evaluation of microwave
interference between stations on the surface of the Earth at
frequencies above about 0.7 GHz
P.525
Calculation of free space attenuation
P.526
Propagation by diffraction
P.529
Prediction methods for the terrestrial land mobile service in the
VHF and UHF bands
P.530 Propagation data and prediction methods required for the
design of terrestrial line-of-sight systems
P.618
Propagation data and prediction methods required for the
design of Earth-space telecommunication systems
P.1546
Method for point-to-area predictions for terrestrial services in the
frequency range 30 MHz to MHz

11. Available sub-items of propagation models in the menu

12. Radiowave propagation modes
Unaffected by any consideration other than distance
Free-space waves
Influenced by the action of free electrons in the upper levels of the Earths atmosphere.
Ionospheric waves
Subject to deflection in the lower levels by variations in the refractive index structure of the air through which they pass.
Tropospheric waves
Modified by the nature of the terrain over which they travel.
Ground waves

13. Propagation terms used in SMS4DC(1)
Free-space
propagation
Propagation of an electromagnetic wave in a homogeneous ideal
dielectric medium which may be considered of infinite extent in all
directions.
Line of sight
Propagation between two points for which the direct ray is sufficiently
clear of obstacles for diffraction to be of negligible effect.
Radio horizon
The locus of points at which direct rays from a point source of radio
waves are tangential to the surface of the Earth.
Troposphere
The lower part of the Earth’s atmosphere extending upwards from the
Earth’s surface, in which temperature decreases with height except in
local layers of temperature inversion. This part of the atmosphere
extends to an altitude of about 9 km at the Earth’s poles and 17 km at
the equator.

14. Propagation terms used in SMS4DC(1)
Effective Earth-radius factor, k
Ratio of the effective radius of the Earth to the actual Earth radius. For the standard atmosphere, the effective Earth radius is 4/3 that of the actual Earth radius.
Effective antenna height
The effective height of the transmitting antenna is defined as its height over the average level of the ground between distances of 3 and 15 km from the transmitter in the direction of the receiver.
% Time
The applicable time percentage values or range of values of the ITU Recommendation; % time is the percentage of time that the predicted signal is exceeded during an average year.
% Location
The applicable percent location range of the ITU Recommendation; % location is the percentage of locations within, say, a square with 100 to 200 m sides that the predicted signal is exceeded.
Delta h
defines the degree of terrain irregularity
Terrain clearance angle
See diagram in next slides

15. The Parameter Delta H (Δh)

16. Terrain Clearance Angle

17. Some Useful Concepts for Propagation models
Fading :Fluctuation of signal level with respect to stable condition for number of reasons.
Path profile: A vertical cut of terrain along propagation path between transmitter and receiver
NFD: Net Filter Discrimination (NFD) expresses the reduction (in dB) of the interference power if the transmitter and receiver frequencies are different
Polarization: The Locus of Electric field vector fluctuation

18. Propagation Effects Diffraction fading due to obstruction of the path;
Attenuation due to atmospheric gases;
Fading due to atmospheric multipath or beam spreading (commonly referred to as defocusing) associated with abnormal refractive layers;
Fading due to multipath arising from surface reflection;
Attenuation due to precipitation or solid particles in the atmosphere;
Variation of the angle-of-arrival at the receiver terminal and angle-of-launch at the transmitter terminal due to refraction;
Reduction in cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) in multipath or precipitation conditions;
Signal distortion due to frequency selective fading and delay during multipath propagation..
Attenuation due to sand and dust storms
Multipath Fading
Cross-polarization discrimination

19. ITU-R P.370
Intended for prediction of field strength for the broadcasting service for the
frequency range 30 to MHz and for the distance range up to km Replaced by P.1546 but still used in some bilateral agreements
Input parameters:
% Time (range 1 – 50 %): typical 1% for interference contour
50 % for coverage contour
% Locations (range 1-99 %): typical coverage contour 99 %
interference contour 50 %
Δh defines the degree of terrain irregularity; for broadcasting services it is applied in the range 10 km to 50 km from the transmitter. Typical value = 50 m.
Contour value: appropriate to service type e.g. VHF land mobile fsmin =12dBμV/m
Land/Sea discrimination: if checked will apply correction for % sea/land path

21. Effective Antenna Height calculation (SMS4DC Tool)

22. Field strength contour using ITU-R P.370
Select P.370 and Field strength Contour from Propagation Models menu
Select station for contour calculation

23. P.370 Input parameters % Time: (1 – 50 %) % Location: (1 – 99 %)
Effective radius of the Earth: (k=4/3)
System: Analogue/Digital
Environment: see inset
Land/Sea discrimination
Receiver height
Delta H
Contour value

24. P.370: calculation of field strength contours

25. P.452: Prediction procedure for the evaluation of microwave interference between stations on the surface of the Earth at frequencies above about 0.7 GHz
–N0 (N-units), the sea-level surface refractivity, is used only by the troposcatter model as a measure of location variability of the troposcatter mechanism.
– Delta_N (N-units/km), the average radio-refractive index lapse-rate through the lowest 1 km of the atmosphere, provides the data upon which the appropriate effective Earth radius can be calculated for path profile and diffraction obstacle analysis.
– Beta_e (%), the time percentage for which refractive index lapse-rates exceeding 100 N-units/km can be expected in the first 100 m of the lower atmosphere,

26. Link calculation

27. P.525 Calculation of Free Space Attenuation 1
Point-to-area links: If there is a transmitter serving several randomly-distributed receivers (broadcasting, mobile service), the field is calculated at a point located at some appropriate distance from the transmitter by the expression:
where:
e : r.m.s. field strength (V/m)
p : equivalent isotropically radiated power (e.i.r.p.) of the transmitter in the direction of the point in
d : distance from the transmitter to the point in question (m).

28. P.525 Calculation of Free Space Attenuation
Point-to-point links:With a point-to-point link it is preferable to calculate the free-space attenuation between isotropic antennas, also known as the free-space basic transmission loss (symbols: Lbf or A0), as follows:
where:
Lbf : free-space basic transmission loss (dB)
d : distance
λ : wavelength

29. P.525 Calculation of Free Space Attenuation

30. P.1546
This Recommendation describes a method for point-to-area radio propagation predictions for terrestrial services in the frequency range 30 MHz to MHz
It is intended for use on tropospheric radio circuits over land paths, sea paths and/or mixed land-sea paths between 1‑1 000 km length for effective transmitting antenna heights less than m

31. P.1546

32. Parameters of different propagation models

33. Parameters of different propagation models(1)

34. Parameters of different propagation models(2)

35. Parameters of different propagation models(3)

36. P.618 Parameters

37. Exercising SMS4DC

38. Step 1 Launch SMS4DC

39. Step 2: Launch the DEM view using toolbar push button

40. Step 3 Establish a fix stations A using and set the frequency to 890 MHz

41. Step 5,6 do the same steps as in 3 and 4 to Establish a fix stations B and set the frequency to 890 MHz

42. Step 4 Press assign antenna button to choose antenna “ant_ALE8603_806
Step 4 Press assign antenna button to choose antenna “ant_ALE8603_806.ant”

43. Step 7 Open the administrative part from“Database->licensing”

44. Step 8: Select “Anonymous Station” and find station B, open Antenna Information Table of Station B

45. Step 9 : Push modify button and change the field “class of antenna” from T to C and push save button

46. Step 10: Find Station A and go to the Frequency tab and press “Add Receiver” and follow the dialog box (Choose station B from table under POINT, and then close the admin window

47. Step 11: Open “Database” menu and select “Display Link

48. Step 12: Select the record of new established hop

49. Step 13 Open menu “Propagation Model” and select Link item under the ITU-R P.370 propagation model

51. P.452

52. P.530

53. EXCERSISES

54. Thank you