What is the L Band?

IEEE Radar L Band

The L-band as defined by IEEE is a frequency range from 1 to 2 GHz. IEEE uses letters to signify a range of frequencies from 1 to 170 GHz. This band is used for a wide range of applications including radars, mobile & satellite communication, satellite navigation (like GPS, GLONASS etc.) and satellite broadcasting (DAB) applications.

Some Technologies and Companies that use the L-Band:

- The L-Band is used for all GNSS Technologies including GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou etc. GPS has five bands, the L1 Band: 1575.42 MHz, L2: 1227.60 MHz, L3 Band: 1381.05 MHz, L5 Band: 1176.45 MHz all of which lie in the L-Band. 

- The International Telecommunication Union has allowed the 1240 to 1300 MHz band to be used for amateur radio operations. In addition to this the 1260 MHz to 12 70 MHz band are used for amateur satellite up-links.

- Companies like Iridium and Inmarsat use this band to provide reliable satellite communications at sea, on land and in the air.

- The FCC has also allocated the 28 MHz of spectrum (14 MHz for Earth-to-space transmissions and 14 MHz for space-to-Earth transmissions) internationally coordinated in the L-band for only the U.S. mobile-satellite service ("MSS") system authorized to operate in the upper L-band.

Advantages of L Band Frequency over other frequency bands:

• This frequecy band faces less interference from heavy rain fading
• The low frequency range makes it easier to design and source components
• The components for this band are less expensive than those for higher frequency bands

Click here to see the other IEEE/Radar Letter Frequency Bands.

L Band defined by NATO

NATO had a separate frequency band notation system which is now obsolete. They also had a frequency band represented by the letter L. This band had a frequency range from 40 to 60 GHz and a wavelength from 5 to 7.5 mm.