08 Radio Mobile v1.2

8/13/2019 08 Radio Mobile v1.2

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Radio Mobile

Training materials for wireless trainers


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Goals

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! To understand the basic concepts that areneeded to start working with Radio Mobile, free

software (for Windows) that provides a detailedpropagation model for radio links with the use offreely available Digital Elevation Maps.

! To learn how to make the simulation of one or

more radio links and perform what if?simulations, changing various link parameters.


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Software for radio link simulation

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Radio Mobile runs inWindows but it can beused in Linux or Mac OS

by means of emulators.It provides all sort of details for point to point links, includingexpected signal level at any point along the path, includingdiffraction losses due to obstacles.

Radio Mobile automatically builds a profile between twopoints on the digital map, showing Fresnel zone and earthcurvature clearance, as well as required antenna heights. It is awonderful tool for exploring what if? scenarios.

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Why use Radio Mobile?


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Download Radio Mobile

Download Radio Mobile here:

http://www.cplus.org/rmw/english1.html

Instructions are provided for how to download the digitalelevations maps for your area of interest.

Digital elevation maps come in one degree longitude, Xdegree latitude tiles so you might need to download a few

tiles for your application. Resolution of 30 and 3 arc seconds(or better!) are available for all regions of the world.

Once you have downloaded the maps, you no longer needInternet access (unlike using Google Earth).

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Using Radio Mobile

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! Lets assume Radio Mobile is already correctlyinstalled on your computer (installation instructionsare provided in the download page).

! We will now review the procedure to simulate asimple wireless network composed of a few nodes

! We will then use Radio Mobile to perform some

simple link budget calculations, coverage analysisand what if? simulations


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Using Radio Mobile: example

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Using Radio Mobile: DEMs

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! Before you start working with Radio Mobile, youmay want to download the Digital Elevation Mapsof your area of interest. Radio Mobile can use anumber of formats including SRTM.

http://eros.usgs.gov/#/Find_Data/Products_and_Data_Available/gtopo30_info

Radio Mobile screenshot


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Using Radio Mobile: DEMs

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! The simplest way to get elevation data is to letRadio Mobile download it automatically whenneeded. It will also store the data locally forfuture use.



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Using Radio Mobile: create map

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! Menu File, select item Map properties! Insert coordinates (center of map) and dimensions

of the map

! We use: N 45.6 - E 13.5 640x480 pixels

64x48 km! Extract



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Using Radio Mobile: the map

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Using Radio Mobile: add map

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! We can add road details using this procedure:menu Edit select item Merge pictures...

! Then select

OpenStreetMap with Zoom=10

Operation: Add

! click on Draw

! Keep in picture



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Using Radio Mobile: new map

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Using Radio Mobile: terminology

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! Radio Mobile has its own special terminology. Inorder to create radio links we need to learn a fewnew terms:

! a system: a particular choice of radio andantenna (TX power, gain, radiation pattern, ...)

! a unit: a system installed in a particular location

(coordinates, height of antenna, ...)! a network: a set of units, part of the same

radio network (all at the same frequency)


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Using Radio Mobile: systems

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! Lets create two different systems ([email protected]):! SmallRadio:

PTX=16dBmSRX=-90dBmomni 8dBi

! BigRadio:PTX=20dBm

SRX=-96dBmdish 24dBi

! other: default


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Using Radio Mobile: units

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! Lets create 5 new units, located in the 4 sites:!Miramare 1

!Miramare 2

!Church

!Castle

!Hotel


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Using Radio Mobile: units

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! After creation, you should assign the proper systemto each unit:

!Miramare 1

!Church!Castle are all

SmallRadio

!Miramare 2

!Hotel are bothBigRadio


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Using Radio Mobile: network

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!

To view your network on the map, just selectView "Show networks"All


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Using Radio Mobile: network

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! To be able to correctly calculate the loss due topropagation,you shouldset the correct

frequency.

! We are usingthe 2.4GHz

band, so letsset the range2400-2485.


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Using Radio Mobile: results

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! Now that we have set our scenario, lets calculate

the link budget for our links: Tools "Radio link


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Using Radio Mobile: results

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! You can switch to the detailed view, that gives you a

textual description of the output of the simulation


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Using Radio Mobile: coverage

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! Tools "Radio coverage "Single polar

! This will start the calculation of the coverage areaof a selectedstation in

your net.


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Using Radio Mobile: what if?

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! With the help of Radio Mobile is very easy to

simulate different scenarios, or just different valuesof the antenna height and/or gain, TX power, etc...


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Other examples(Malawi)


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Links

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http://radiomobile.pe1mew.nl/?About_Radio_Mobile

http://www.pizon.org/radio-mobile-tutorial/point-to-point-link.html


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Conclusions

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! Radio Mobile makes it possible to simulate oneor more radio links and perform what if?simulations, changing various link parameters

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While it cannot prove that a link is 100%possible, Radio Mobile can prove that a link is notpossible (or would be very difficult).

! By combining DEM data and free overlay maps, it

is possible to make very informative reportsabout coverage, link quality, and other radioparameters.


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Documents

08 Radio Mobile v1.2