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Topic 1 Introduction To Microwaves

Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from 1 millimeter to 1 meter. They have several advantages for communication systems including increased bandwidth, low power requirements, and the ability to transmit over long distances. Common applications of microwaves include radar systems, wireless networks, and microwave ovens. However, high exposure to microwave radiation can pose health risks by causing issues like cataracts or interfering with medical devices.

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158 views

Topic 1 Introduction To Microwaves

Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from 1 millimeter to 1 meter. They have several advantages for communication systems including increased bandwidth, low power requirements, and the ability to transmit over long distances. Common applications of microwaves include radar systems, wireless networks, and microwave ovens. However, high exposure to microwave radiation can pose health risks by causing issues like cataracts or interfering with medical devices.

Uploaded by

maizatul
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TOPIC 1 : INTRODUCTION TO

MICROWAVE SYSTEM
1.0 Introduction

• What are Microwaves


• History of Microwaves
• Characteristic Features and Advantages of Microwaves
• Radio waves
• Hazards of Microwave Radiation

Reference:
Principles of Electronic Communication System (Louis E. Frenzel Jr.)
Fundamentals of Electromagnetics (Fawwaz T. Ulaby)
Microwave, Radar & RF Engineering (Prakash Kumar Chaturvedi)
1.1 What are microwaves?

• Electromagnetic waves has frequency spectrum


approximately from below 1Hz to above 1025Hz.

• Have E-vector and H-vector which are perpendicular to each


other.

• The term microwave generally refers to "alternating current


signals with frequencies between 1GHz 1 GHz (λ = 30cm) and
300 GHz (λ = 1mm)."
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• The microwave range :
– ultra-high frequency (UHF) : 0.3-3 GHz
– super high frequency (SHF) : 3-30 GHz
– extremely high frequency (EHF) : 30-300 GHz

• Above 300 GHz, the absorption of electromagnetic radiation


by Earth's atmosphere is so great that it is effectively opaque,
until the atmosphere becomes transparent again in the so-
called infrared and optical window frequency ranges
Microwaves have
wavelengths that can be
measured in centimeters.
The longer microwaves,
those closer to a foot in
length, are the waves
which heat our food in a
microwave oven.
1.2 History of Microwaves

• 1777-1855 : Karl Friedrick Gauss deduced fundamental law of


electromagnetic action in terms of an electric field propagating at
finite velocity
• 1848: Michael Faraday’s experiments on propagation of magnetic
disturbance EM waves
• 1865: theoretical formulation by James Clerk Maxwell (popularly
known as Maxwell’s Field Equations)
• 1888 : Marconi and Hertz in their experiments proved Maxwell’s
theory of RF signal being an EM wave and travel with the velocity of
light
• 1885: J. C. Bose developed a circuit for generating microwave power
and in 1898 developed horn antenna, polariser, and detector of RF
signal, which is used even today

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1.3 Characteristic Features of Microwaves

• Increased bandwidth availability:


– It has large bandwidth because of high frequency
– Normally maximum bandwidth is 10% of base signal
– Why more bandwidth at high frequency?
– A 10% band width at 3 GHz implies availability of 300 MHz
band width and hence much more information can be
transmitted.
• Low-power requirements:
– The DC power required by the transmitter and receiver at
microwave frequency is quite low as compared to low-
frequency operations especially due to directivity
• Transparency property:
– easily propagate
through air, space,
ionosphere; can
penetrate haze, rain,
snow, clouds and
smoke
– Hence able to transmit
information between
ground and space,
allow astronomical
research of space
• Higher power radiated and higher gain of receiving
antenna, at higher frequencies:
– Proportional to the square of the frequency
• Reflected by metal:
– Microwave incident on the metal walls of the oven
behaves similar to visible light hitting a silver mirror
(major part of the microwave is perfectly reflected)
– The extent to which microwaves are reflected varies
with the type of metal. For example, aluminum and
stainless steel reflect microwaves, while certain
compositions of cold-rolled steel will absorb
microwave energy to some extent.
• Microwave Cavity Resonators
– Microwaves contained within a specially constructed metal
enclosure forms a cavity
– Terminating the ends of the transmission line (shorting
plates) cause signal to bounce back and forth of the
shorted ends when microwave energy is injected

• Microwave heating mechanism


– Any dielectric (including water or food) gets heated as
microwave propagates through it
– Microwaves cause bipolar compounds (eg. water) to
vibrate, which makes the substances hot.
• Applications
– Communication (cell phone, TV broadcast)
– RADAR systems (detecting and locating planes, ships,
missiles; air traffic control)
– Remote sensing applications (mapping of temperature
profile, moisture condition of soils)
– Microwave oven / Microwave Cooking Cavity (The
microwaves bounce around this oven cavity until they are either
absorbed by food or dissipate into the air. )
• Applications in aviation industry
– RADAR systems
• detecting locations and speed of planes
• air traffic control
– Microwave landing system
• This ensure a wide selection of channels to avoid interference with
other nearby airports and it allows wide vertical and horizontal
capture angles that permit approaches from wider areas around
the airport.
1.4 Radio Waves

• Radio waves have the longest wavelengths in the


electromagnetic spectrum.
• Radio waves do more than just bring music to your radio.
– They also carry signals for your television and cellular
phones.

wavelength

100kHz 1MHz 10MHz 100MHz 1GHz


Radio waves have longest wavelength in EM spectrum
m

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• The antenna on your television set
receive the signal, in the form of EM
waves, that is broadcasted from the
television station.

• Cable companies have antenna which


receive waves broadcasted from local TV
stations. The signal is then sent through a
cable to houses.

• Cellular phones also use radio waves to


transmit information. These waves are
much smaller that TV and FM radio
waves.
Ref: page 298, chapter 8, book: Microwave, Radar & RF Engineering by Prakash Kumar Chaturvedi
1.5 Hazards of Microwave Radiation

• We are exposed to radiation signals from radio, TV, cell phone


etc
• These produce harmful biological effect on human being
• Examples
– Microwave heating takes place due to vibration of water. Hence when
our eyes are exposed to radiation, the blood circulatory system is
unable to provide sufficient flow of blood for cooling, causing cataract
(page 13, microwave and RF engineering)
– Additionally, can cause blood disorder, leukaemia, interference with
pace maker functioning

20
Next?

21
Microwave (carrying
information) transmit over
space

Base station transmitter Base station receiver

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