Wireless Link Budgets: dBm and mW, Free-Space Path Loss, Antenna Gain, Wall Losses, Fade Margin & Coverage Range
Work out whether a radio link will hold: transmit power in dBm, path loss over distance and frequency, antenna gains and cable losses, walls and floors, receiver sensitivity, fade margin and the range you can expect, with every cell checked as you go.
One-time payment · lifetime access · lessons, labs, exam and certificate included · no subscription.
About this course
This course builds a complete wireless link budget cell by cell for a fictional company network. You convert transmit powers between milliwatts and dBm and add gains and losses in decibels, calculate free-space path loss for different distances and bands, look up cable losses and work out the EIRP of each antenna site. Indoors you add wall and floor losses, then compare the received power with the receiver's sensitivity to get the fade margin and a pass or fail. Finally you solve for the maximum range per band, map signal-to-noise ratio to data rate and throughput, and size the number of access points per floor for coverage and capacity.
Lessons
- Decibels for Radio: mW to dBm and Back, Adding Gains & Losses Pro
- Free-Space Path Loss: Distance, Frequency & the 6 dB Rule Pro
- Antennas & Cables: dBi Gain, Cable Loss per Metre, Connectors & EIRP Pro
- Walls & Floors: Obstacle Losses by Material and the Indoor Path Budget Pro
- Receiver Side: Received Power, Sensitivity, Fade Margin & Pass/Fail Pro
- Range Solving: Maximum Distance for a Required Margin, Range per Band Pro
- Data Rate vs Signal: SNR, an Approximate Rate Lookup & Throughput per Device Pro
- Coverage Plan: Access Points per Floor, Worst-Room Check & a Margin Chart Pro