Link margin

Last updated

In a wireless communication system, the link margin (LKM) is a critical parameter that measures the reliability and robustness of the communication link. It is expressed in decibels (dB) and represents the difference between the minimum expected power received at the receiver's end and the receiver's sensitivity. The receiver's sensitivity is the minimum received power level at which the receiver can correctly decode the signal and function properly.

Definition

Link Margin (LKM)=Preceived​−Psensitivity

Where

It is typical to design a system with at least a few dB of link margin, to allow for attenuation that is not modeled elsewhere. For example, a satellite communications system operating in the tens of gigahertz might require additional link margin (vs. the link budget assuming lossless propagation), in order to ensure that it still works with the extra losses due to rain fade or other external factors.

A system with a negative link margin cannot transfer data, so one or more of the following are needed: more transmitter power; more antenna gain at the receiver or transmitter; less propagation loss (e.g., better antenna locations and/or shorter paths); lower receiver noise figure; improved error correction coding (FEC); reduced interference; or a lower data rate.

  1. Reliability: A higher link margin indicates a more robust communication link that can withstand greater levels of interference, signal fading, and other impairments without losing connectivity.
  2. Coverage Area: Link margin impacts the coverage area of a wireless network. Higher link margins allow for greater distances between the transmitter and receiver, expanding the effective range of the communication system.
  3. Quality of Service (QoS): Ensuring an adequate link margin helps maintain the quality of service by minimizing dropped connections and ensuring stable data transmission.
  4. Interference Management: In environments with high levels of interference, such as urban areas or industrial settings, a higher link margin helps mitigate the effects of external signals that could disrupt communication.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing</span> Method of encoding digital data on multiple carrier frequencies

In telecommunications, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a type of digital transmission used in digital modulation for encoding digital (binary) data on multiple carrier frequencies. OFDM has developed into a popular scheme for wideband digital communication, used in applications such as digital television and audio broadcasting, DSL internet access, wireless networks, power line networks, and 4G/5G mobile communications.

Path loss, or path attenuation, is the reduction in power density (attenuation) of an electromagnetic wave as it propagates through space. Path loss is a major component in the analysis and design of the link budget of a telecommunication system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fading</span> Term in wireless communications

In wireless communications, fading is the variation of signal attenuation over variables like time, geographical position, and radio frequency. Fading is often modeled as a random process. In wireless systems, fading may either be due to multipath propagation, referred to as multipath-induced fading, weather, or shadowing from obstacles affecting the wave propagation, sometimes referred to as shadow fading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Very low frequency</span> The range 3–30 kHz of the electromagnetic spectrum

Very low frequency or VLF is the ITU designation for radio frequencies (RF) in the range of 3–30 kHz, corresponding to wavelengths from 100 to 10 km, respectively. The band is also known as the myriameter band or myriameter wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten myriameters. Due to its limited bandwidth, audio (voice) transmission is highly impractical in this band, and therefore only low data rate coded signals are used. The VLF band is used for a few radio navigation services, government time radio stations and for secure military communication. Since VLF waves can penetrate at least 40 meters (131 ft) into saltwater, they are used for military communication with submarines.

Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves as they travel, or are propagated, from one point to another in vacuum, or into various parts of the atmosphere. As a form of electromagnetic radiation, like light waves, radio waves are affected by the phenomena of reflection, refraction, diffraction, absorption, polarization, and scattering. Understanding the effects of varying conditions on radio propagation has many practical applications, from choosing frequencies for amateur radio communications, international shortwave broadcasters, to designing reliable mobile telephone systems, to radio navigation, to operation of radar systems.

A continuous wave or continuous waveform (CW) is an electromagnetic wave of constant amplitude and frequency, typically a sine wave, that for mathematical analysis is considered to be of infinite duration. It may refer to e.g. a laser or particle accelerator having a continuous output, as opposed to a pulsed output.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single-frequency network</span>

A single-frequency network or SFN is a broadcast network where several transmitters simultaneously send the same signal over the same frequency channel.

A link budget is an accounting of all of the power gains and losses that a communication signal experiences in a telecommunication system; from a transmitter, through a communication medium such as radio waves, cable, waveguide, or optical fiber, to the receiver. It is an equation giving the received power from the transmitter power, after the attenuation of the transmitted signal due to propagation, as well as the antenna gains and feedline and other losses, and amplification of the signal in the receiver or any repeaters it passes through. A link budget is a design aid, calculated during the design of a communication system to determine the received power, to ensure that the information is received intelligibly with an adequate signal-to-noise ratio. Randomly varying channel gains such as fading are taken into account by adding some margin depending on the anticipated severity of its effects. The amount of margin required can be reduced by the use of mitigating techniques such as antenna diversity or multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO).

Link adaptation, comprising adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) and others, is a term used in wireless communications to denote the matching of the modulation, coding and other signal and protocol parameters to the conditions on the radio link. For example, WiMAX uses a rate adaptation algorithm that adapts the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) according to the quality of the radio channel, and thus the bit rate and robustness of data transmission. The process of link adaptation is a dynamic one and the signal and protocol parameters change as the radio link conditions change—for example in High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) this can take place every 2 ms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antenna diversity</span> Redundancy method to improve communications reliability

Antenna diversity, also known as space diversity or spatial diversity, is any one of several wireless diversity schemes that uses two or more antennas to improve the quality and reliability of a wireless link. Often, especially in urban and indoor environments, there is no clear line-of-sight (LOS) between transmitter and receiver. Instead the signal is reflected along multiple paths before finally being received. Each of these bounces can introduce phase shifts, time delays, attenuations, and distortions that can destructively interfere with one another at the aperture of the receiving antenna.

In the field of wireless communication, macrodiversity is a kind of space diversity scheme using several receiver or transmitter antennas for transferring the same signal. The distance between the transmitters is much longer than the wavelength, as opposed to microdiversity where the distance is in the order of or shorter than the wavelength.

In telecommunications, a diversity scheme refers to a method for improving the reliability of a message signal by using two or more communication channels with different characteristics. Diversity is mainly used in radio communication and is a common technique for combatting fading and co-channel interference and avoiding error bursts. It is based on the fact that individual channels experience fades and interference at different, random times, i.e., they are at least partly independent. Multiple versions of the same signal may be transmitted and/or received and combined in the receiver. Alternatively, a redundant forward error correction code may be added and different parts of the message transmitted over different channels. Diversity techniques may exploit the multipath propagation, resulting in a diversity gain, often measured in decibels.

Multiuser detection deals with demodulation of the mutually interfering digital streams of information that occur in areas such as wireless communications, high-speed data transmission, DSL, satellite communication, digital television, and magnetic recording. It is also being currently investigated for demodulation in low-power inter-chip and intra-chip communication. Multiuser detection encompasses both receiver technologies devoted to joint detection of all the interfering signals or to single-user receivers which are interested in recovering only one user but are robustified against multiuser interference and not just background noise.

Multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) is a set of multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) technologies for multipath wireless communication, in which multiple users or terminals, each radioing over one or more antennas, communicate with one another. In contrast, single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) involves a single multi-antenna-equipped user or terminal communicating with precisely one other similarly equipped node. Analogous to how OFDMA adds multiple-access capability to OFDM in the cellular-communications realm, MU-MIMO adds multiple-user capability to MIMO in the wireless realm.

In radio, cooperative multiple-input multiple-output is a technology that can effectively exploit the spatial domain of mobile fading channels to bring significant performance improvements to wireless communication systems. It is also called network MIMO, distributed MIMO, virtual MIMO, and virtual antenna arrays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MIMO</span> Use of multiple antennas in radio

In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmission and receiving antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wireless communication standards including IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, HSPA+ (3G), WiMAX, and Long Term Evolution (LTE). More recently, MIMO has been applied to power-line communication for three-wire installations as part of the ITU G.hn standard and of the HomePlug AV2 specification.

3G MIMO describes MIMO techniques which have been considered as 3G standard techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio</span> Use of radio waves to carry information

Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to an antenna which radiates the waves. They are received by another antenna connected to a radio receiver. In addition to communication, radio is used for radar, radio navigation, remote control, remote sensing, and other applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RF module</span> Electronic device to transmit and receive RF signals

An RF module is a (usually) small electronic device used to transmit and/or receive radio signals between two devices. In an embedded system it is often desirable to communicate with another device wirelessly. This wireless communication may be accomplished through optical communication or through radio-frequency (RF) communication. For many applications, the medium of choice is RF since it does not require line of sight. RF communications incorporate a transmitter and a receiver. They are of various types and ranges. Some can transmit up to 500 feet. RF modules are typically fabricated using RF CMOS technology.

Multiple-input, multiple-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) is the dominant air interface for 4G and 5G broadband wireless communications. It combines multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technology, which multiplies capacity by transmitting different signals over multiple antennas, and orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), which divides a radio channel into a large number of closely spaced subchannels to provide more reliable communications at high speeds. Research conducted during the mid-1990s showed that while MIMO can be used with other popular air interfaces such as time-division multiple access (TDMA) and code-division multiple access (CDMA), the combination of MIMO and OFDM is most practical at higher data rates.

References

https://ictactjournals.in/paper/IJCT_Vol_8_Iss_3_Paper_5_1574_1581.pdf

Book Reference: