|
Wireless Networking References Section
dBm to mW Conversion
dBm |
mW |
dBm |
mW |
dBm |
mW |
-10.0 |
0.10 |
7 |
5 |
24 |
251 |
-9.0 |
0.13 |
8 |
6 |
25 |
316 |
-8.0 |
0.16 |
9 |
8 |
26 |
398 |
-7.0 |
0.20 |
10 |
10 |
27 |
501 |
-6.0 |
0.25 |
11 |
13 |
28 |
631 |
-5.0 |
0.32 |
12 |
16 |
29 |
794 |
-4.0 |
0.4 |
13 |
20 |
30 |
1000 |
-3.0 |
0.5 |
14 |
25 |
31 |
1259 |
-2.0 |
0.6 |
15 |
32 |
32 |
1585 |
-1.0 |
0.8 |
16 |
40 |
33 |
1995 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
17 |
50 |
34 |
2512 |
1.0 |
1.3 |
18 |
63 |
35 |
3162 |
2.0 |
1.6 |
19 |
79 |
36 |
3981 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
20 |
100 |
37 |
5012 |
4.0 |
2.5 |
21 |
126 |
38 |
6310 |
5.0 |
3.2 |
22 |
158 |
39 |
7943 |
6 |
4 |
23 |
200 |
40 |
10000 |
2.4GHz Channels & Bands
2.4GHz Operating Frequency Range = 2412 - 2484MHz
Legal Operating Channels by Region:
- OFCOM/ETSI: 01 - 13
- FCC: 01 - 11
- France: 10 - 13
- Japan: 01 - 14
2.4GHz Channel |
Frequency (MHz) |
2.4GHz Channel |
Frequency (MHz) |
1 |
2412 |
8 |
2447 |
2 |
2417 |
9 |
2452 |
3 |
2422 |
10 |
2457 |
4 |
2427 |
11 |
2462 |
5 |
2432 |
12 |
2467 |
6 |
2437 |
13 |
2472 |
7 |
2442 |
14 |
2484 |
Country |
Maximum E.I.R.P (dBm) |
Maximum E.I.R.P (mW) |
Regulatory Body |
Regulatory Document |
Europe |
20 |
100 |
ETSI |
ETS 300-328 |
USA |
30 |
1000 |
FCC |
47 CFR 15.247 |
Japan |
10 |
10 |
ARIB |
STD-T66 |
France |
7 |
5 |
ARCEP |
- |
5GHz Channels & Bands
5GHz Operating Frequency Range = 4915 - 5825MHz
Legal Unlicensed Operating Channels by Region (Channel 36+):
5GHz Channel |
Frequency (MHz) |
United States |
Europe |
Japan |
Singapore |
Israel |
Korea |
Australia |
40/20 MHz |
40/20 MHz |
40/20 MHz |
20 MHz |
20 MHz |
20 MHz |
40/20 MHz |
36 |
5180 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
38 |
5190 |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
40 |
5200 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
42 |
5210 |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
44 |
5220 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
46 |
5230 |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
48 |
5240 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
52 |
5260 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
56 |
5280 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
60 |
5300 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
64 |
5320 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
100 |
5500 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
104 |
5520 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
108 |
5540 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
112 |
5560 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
116 |
5580 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
120 |
5600 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
124 |
5620 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
128 |
5640 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
132 |
5660 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
136 |
5680 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
140 |
5700 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
149 |
5745 |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
153 |
5765 |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
157 |
5785 |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
161 |
5805 |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
165 |
5825 |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Maximum Output Power / E.I.R.P - 5GHz UK OFCOM
- A Band (Channels 36 - 64): 0.2W or 23dBm - License Free Operation
- B Band (Channels 100 - 140): 1W or 30dBm - License Free Operation
- C Band (Channels 149 - 161): 4W or 36dBm - License Required
802.11 Networking Standards
802.11 Protocol Comparison Table
802.11 Protocol |
Release |
Frequency |
Channel Bandwidth |
Data rate per stream (Mbps) |
Allowable MIMO streams |
Modulation |
Approximate indoor range (m) |
Approximate outdoor range (m) |
- |
Jun-97 |
2.4 |
20 |
Up to 2 |
1 |
DSSS,FHSS |
20 |
100 |
a |
Sep-99 |
5 |
20 |
Up to 54 |
1 |
OFDM |
35 |
120 |
b |
Sep-99 |
2.4 |
20 |
Up to 11 |
1 |
DSSS |
38 |
140 |
g |
Jun-03 |
2.4 |
20 |
Up to 54 |
1 |
OFDM,DSSS |
38 |
140 |
n |
Oct-09 |
2.4/5 |
20 |
Up to 72.2 |
4 |
OFDM |
70 |
250 |
40 |
Up to 150 |
70 |
250 |
802.11 Advertised Vs Actual Throughputs
802.11 Protocol |
Advertised Speed (Mbps) |
Real World Throughput Speed (Mbps) |
802.11a |
54 |
≈ 27.5 |
802.11b |
11 |
≈ 4.5 |
802.11g (11b compatibility on) |
54 |
≈ 14.5 |
802.11g |
54 |
≈ 23 |
802.11g MIMO |
108 |
≈ 45 |
802.11n |
300 |
≈ 74 |
802.11n |
600 |
≈ 144 |
Millimetre Wave
Millimetre Wave Band |
Application |
Regulatory Document |
57 - 64GHz |
Unlicensed Point-to-Point Fixed Wireless Systems |
IR 2078 |
64 - 66GHz |
Licensed Point-to-Point Fixed Wireless Systems |
Self-Coordinated |
71 - 76GHz |
Licensed Point-to-Point Fixed Wireless Systems |
Self-Coordinated |
81 - 86GHz |
Licensed Point-to-Point Fixed Wireless Systems |
Self-Coordinated |
3G Standards
Common name of IMT-2000 standard |
Bandwidth |
Pre-4G upgrade |
Duplex Method |
Channel |
Description |
Geographical Areas of Usage |
EDGE (UWC-136) |
EDGE Evolution |
Likely Discontinued |
FDD |
TDMA |
Evolutionary upgrade to GSM/GPRS |
Worldwide, except Japan & South Korea |
CDMA2000 |
EV-DO |
UMB |
CDMA |
Evolutionary upgrade to CDMA One (IS-95) |
Americas, Asia & some others |
UMTS |
W-CDMA |
HSPA |
LTE |
Family of revolutionary upgrades to earlier GSM family |
Worldwide |
TD-CDMA |
TDD |
Europe |
TD-SCDMA |
China |
DECT |
none |
FDMA/TDMA |
Short-range, standard for cordless phones |
Europe & USA |
|
WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) |
OFDMA |
|
Worldwide |
3G Channels and Licenses
Licence Name |
Frequencies |
License Owner |
Licence A |
2x15 MHz paired + 5 MHz unpaired spectrum |
3 |
Licence B |
2x15 MHz paired spectrum |
Vodafone |
Licence C |
2x10 MHz paired + 5 MHz unpaired spectrum |
BT (O2) |
Licence D |
2x10 MHz paired + 5 MHz unpaired spectrum |
T-Mobile |
Licence E |
2x10 MHz paired + 5 MHz unpaired spectrum |
Orange |

4G Standards
Comparison table listing the current and proposed 4G systems along with other related systems:
Standard |
Family |
Primary Use |
Radio Tech |
Downlink (Mbps) |
Uplink (Mbps) |
Notes |
WiMAX |
802.16 |
Mobile Internet |
MIMO-SOFDMA |
128 (20MHz b'width) |
56 (20MHz b'width) |
WiMAX update IEEE 802.16m expected to offer peak rates of at least 1 Gbps fixed speeds and 100Mbps to mobile users. |
LTE |
UMTS / 4GSM |
General 4G |
OFDMA / MIMO / SC-FDMA |
100 (20MHz b'width) |
50 (20 MHz b'width) |
LTE-Advanced update expected to offer peak rates up to 1 Gbps fixed speeds and 100 Mbps to mobile users. |
Flash-OFDM |
Flash-OFDM |
Mobile Internet mobility up to 200mph |
Flash-OFDM |
0.3 |
1.8 |
Mobile range 30km (18 miles) and Extended range 55 km (34 miles) |
10.6 |
3.6 |
15.9 |
5.4 |
HIPERMAN |
HIPERMAN |
Mobile Internet |
OFDM |
56.9 |
|
Wi-Fi |
802.11 (11n) |
Mobile Internet |
OFDM / MIMO |
300 (using 4x4 configuration in 20MHz bandwidth) or 600 (using 4x4 configuration in 40MHz bandwidth) |
Antenna, RF front end enhancements and minor protocol timer tweaks have helped deploy long range P2P networks compromising on radial coverage, throughput and/or spectra efficiency (310km & 382km) |
iBurst |
802.2 |
Mobile Internet |
HC-SDMA / TDD / MIMO |
95 |
36 |
Speed: 250km/h, Spectral Efficiency: 13 bits/s/Hz/cell, Spectrum Reuse Factor: "1", Cell Radius: 3-12 km |
EDGE Evolution |
GSM |
Mobile Internet |
TDMA / FDD |
1.6 |
0.5 |
3GPP Release 7 |
UMTS W-CDMA |
UMTS/3GSM |
General 3G |
CDMA / FDD |
0.384 |
0.384 |
HSDPA widely deployed. Typical downlink rates today 2 Mbps, ≈200 kbps uplink; HSPA+ downlink up to 56 Mbps. |
HSDPA + HSUPA |
14.4 |
5.76 |
HSPA+ |
CDMA / FDD / MIMO |
56 |
22 |
UMTS-TDD |
UMTS / 3GSM |
Mobile Internet |
CDMA / TDD |
16 |
Reported speeds according to IP Wireless using 16QAM modulation similar to HSDPA + HSUPA |
1xRTT |
CDMA2000 |
Mobile phone |
CDMA |
0.144 |
Succeeded by EV-DO for data use, but still is used for voice and as a failover for EV-DO |
EV-DO 1x Rev. 0 |
CDMA2000 |
Mobile Internet |
CDMA/FDD |
2.45 |
0.15 |
Rev B note: N is the number of 1.25 MHz chunks of spectrum used. EV-DO is not designed for voice, and requires a fallback to 1xRTT when a voice call is placed or received. |
EV-DO 1x Rev.A |
3.1 |
1.8 |
EV-DO Rev.B |
4.9xN |
1.8xN |
Licensing Documents
Fixed Wireless Systems - General
2.4GHz Wireless Systems
5GHz Wireless Systems
57 - 63GHz Fixed Wireless Systems
64 - 66GHz Fixed Wireless Systems
71 - 75GHz & 81 - 85GHz Fixed Wireless Systems
3G Mobile Broadband Systems
Rain Fade

Rainfall Rate (R) |
Percentage of Year (%) |
Region |
A |
B |
B1 |
B2 |
C |
D1 |
D2 |
D3 |
E |
F |
G |
H |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
(mm/hr) |
1 |
0.2 |
1.2 |
0.8 |
1.4 |
1.8 |
2.2 |
3.0 |
4.6 |
7.0 |
0.6 |
8.4 |
12.4 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
2.0 |
1.5 |
2.4 |
2.9 |
3.8 |
5.3 |
8.2 |
12.6 |
1.4 |
13.2 |
22.6 |
0.1 |
2.5 |
5.7 |
4.5 |
6.8 |
7.7 |
10.3 |
15.1 |
22.4 |
36.2 |
5.3 |
31.3 |
66.5 |
0.05 |
4.0 |
8.6 |
6.8 |
10.3 |
11.5 |
15.3 |
22.2 |
31.6 |
50.4 |
8.5 |
43.8 |
97.2 |
0.01 |
9.9 |
21.1 |
16.1 |
25.8 |
29.5 |
36.2 |
46.8 |
61.6 |
91.5 |
22.2 |
90.2 |
209.3 |
0.005 |
13.8 |
29.2 |
22.3 |
35.7 |
41.4 |
49.2 |
62.1 |
78.7 |
112.0 |
31.9 |
118.0 |
283.4 |
0.001 |
28.1 |
52.1 |
42.6 |
63.8 |
71.6 |
86.6 |
114.1 |
133.2 |
176.0 |
70.7 |
197.0 |
542.6 |
Frequency (GHz) |
kH |
kV |
αH |
αV |
30 |
0.187 |
0.167 |
1.02 |
1.00 |
40 |
0.350 |
0.310 |
0.94 |
0.93 |
50 |
0.536 |
0.479 |
0.87 |
0.87 |
60 |
0.707 |
0.642 |
0.83 |
0.82 |
70 |
0.851 |
0.784 |
0.79 |
0.79 |
80 |
0.975 |
0.906 |
0.77 |
0.77 |
90 |
1.060 |
0.999 |
0.75 |
0.75 |
100 |
1.120 |
1.060 |
0.74 |
0.74 |
Availability
Availability % |
Downtime p/year |
Downtime p/month |
Downtime p/week |
90 |
("1 nine") |
36.5 days |
72 hours |
16.8 hours |
95 |
|
18.25 days |
36 hours |
8.4 hours |
97 |
|
10.96 days |
21.6 hours |
5.04 hours |
98 |
|
7.30 days |
14.4 hours |
3.36 hours |
99 |
("2 nines") |
3.65 days |
7.20 hours |
1.68 hours |
99.5 |
|
1.83 days |
3.60 hours |
50.4 minutes |
99.8 |
|
17.52 hours |
86.23 minutes |
20.16 minutes |
99.9 |
("3 nines") |
8.76 hours |
43.2 minutes |
10.1 minutes |
99.95 |
|
4.38 hours |
21.56 minutes |
5.04 minutes |
99.99 |
("4 nines") |
52.56 minutes |
4.32 minutes |
1.01 minutes |
99.999 |
("5 nines") |
5.26 minutes |
25.9 seconds |
6.05 seconds |
99.9999 |
("6 nines") |
31.5 seconds |
2.59 seconds |
0.605 seconds |
Earth Curvature
Link Distance (km) |
Curvature Allowance (m) |
1 |
Negligible |
2 |
Negligible |
3 |
0.2 |
5 |
0.4 |
10 |
1.5 |
15 |
4 |
20 |
6 |
25 |
10 |
30 |
13 |
35 |
18 |
40 |
24 |
Wireless Networking Technical Equations
dBm to mW Conversion


Where,
- PmW = Signal Strength/Power (mW)
- PdBm = Signal Strength/Power (dBm)
Signal Attenuation over Distance

Where,
- Strength = Signal Strength (dBm)
- Distance = Link Distance (consistent units)
Wavelength-Frequency Equation

Where,
- λ = Signal Wavelength (m)
- f = Frequency (s)
- c = Speed of Light (3x108ms-1)
Fresnel Zone Radius

Where,
- Fn = The nth Fresnel Zone Radius (m)
- n = The Fresnel Zone number in question
- λ = Signal Wavelength (m)
- d1 = Distance from 1st Device to Point along path (m)
- d2 = Distance from 2nd Device to Point along path (m)
1st Fresnel Zone Radius

Where,
- r = 1st Fresnel Zone Radius (m)
- D = Total Link Distance (km)
- f = Signal Frequency (GHz)
Earth Curvature

Where,
- H = Height difference of Earth's Curvature at the mid-point between the two devices (m)
- D = Total Link Distance between the two devices (km)
- Er = Effective Radius of Earth (km) Note: Usually taken as 4/3 actual radius to account for atmospheric refraction i.e. 8,504km
Free Space Loss - Method 1

Where,
- FSL = Free-Space Loss
- λ = Signal's wavelength (m)
- d = Distance between transmitter and receiver (m)
Free Space Loss - Method 2

Where,
- FSL(dB) = Free-Space Loss (dB)
- d = Distance between transmitter and receiver (km)
- f = Signal's frequency (GHz)
Link Budget

Where,
- PRX = Received Power (dBm)
- PTX = Transmitter Power Output (dBm)
- GTX = Transmitter Antenna Gain (dBi)
- LTX = Losses from Transmitter (cable, connectors etc.) (dB)
- LFS = Path Loss (dB)
- LM = Misc. Losses (fade margin, polarization misalignment etc.) (dB)
- GRX = Receiver Antenna Gain (dBi)
- LRX = Losses from Receiver (cable, connectors etc.) (dB)
System Operating Margin

Where,
- SOM = System Operating Margin (dBm)
- PRX = Received Power (dBm)
- SRX = Receiver Sensitivity (dBm)
Rain Fade

Where,
- LRAIN = Loss in signal strength due to rain (dB)
- γR = Specific attenuation factor due to rain (dB/km)
- DRAIN = Network path length (km)
Specific Attenuation Factor

Where,
- k and α = Various frequency coefficients
- R = Rainfall rate depending on availability required in specific region
|
|
|