Optimum hop length for millimeteric wave radio links in arid land climate

Reliability analysis of millimetric wave radio links operating in an arid climate are presented and used to derive the hop length versus fade margin charts. Long term rain and visibility data for Saudi Arabia, are used to determine rain and visibility statistics for various regions of the country. Based on the results of measured attenuation at 40 GHz in Riyadh, meteorological statistics are converted into excess attenuation due to rain, sandstorms and multipath fading. Finally, the total outage time due to the three phenomenon is depicted as a function of fade margin at various hop lengths. The result is a set of design charts which relate hop lengths, reliability objectives and fade margins for various climates.<
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