Millimeter-Wave Radio Transmission: Atmospheric Propogation, Link Budget and System Availability

The millimeter wave spectrum at 30-300 GHz is of increasing interest to enterprise customers as well as service providers seeking an easy solution to establish a high capacity wireless network connection  between remote locations. In particular, the wide bandwidth channels available at this frequency  range are valuable in supporting applications including, but not limited to, high speed wireless data transmission between remote campus buildings, metropolitan area networks, and mobile wireless  backhaul. As with any other RF/microwave radio system, planning for a millimeter wave system  deployment must include accounting for the propagation characteristics of radio signals at this frequency range.

When calculating the statistical system availability of a pt-t-pt radio it is therefore  important to understand the underlying processes that impact radio signal propagation. This white paper takes a closer look at signal attenuation mechanisms, explains how to calculate the radio link budget and discusses how these factors relate to the overall system availability figure.