Link Budget Calculator

What is Link Budget?

A link budget is the term used that accounts for the power received at the receiver. This accounts for all of the gain and losses from the transmitter to the point at which it is received by the receiver. It includes losses from cables/fibers and other components in the Tx/Rx chain, gains from the antenna, amplifiers etc. and propagation loss when travelling through air or another medium.

Received power (dBm) = Transmitted power (dBm) + gains (dB) - losses (dB)

The link budget is an impotant value that enables engineers to design systems based on the required sensitivity of a receiver at a particular distance.

The free space path loss is the loss in signal strength of a signal as it travells through free space. This value is usually calculated by discounting any obsticles or reflections that might occour. IEEE defines it as "The loss between two isotropic radiators in free space, expressed as a power ratio."

It is a value that is dependent on the distance, frequency and the gains in the system. The link budget calculation requires you to know the Free Space Path Loss. everything RF has built a calculator for this - Click here to calculate the Free Space Path Loss.