- Signal strength
In
telecommunications , particularly inradio , signal strength refers to the magnitude of theelectric field at a reference point that is a significant distance from the transmitting antenna. It may also be referred to as received signal level or field strength. Typically, it is expressed involtage perlength or signal power received by a reference antenna. High-powered transmissions, such as those used inbroadcasting , are expressed in dB-millivolt s permetre (dBmV/m). For very low-power systems, such asmobile phone s, signal strength is usually expressed in dB-microvolt s per metre (dBµV/m) or indecibel s above a reference level of one milliwatt (dBm). In broadcasting terminology, 1 mV/m is 1000 µV/m or 60 dBµ (often written dBu).;Examples:
*100 dBµ or 100 mV/m:blanketing interference may occur on some receivers
*60 dBµ or 1.0 mV/m: frequently considered the edge of aradio station 's protected area in North America
*40 dBµ or 0.1 mV/m: the minimum strength at which a station can be received with acceptable quality on most receiversRelationship to Average Radiated Power
The electric field strength at a specific point can be determined from the power delivered to the transmitting antenna, its geometry and radiation resistance. Consider the case of a center-fed half-wave
dipole antenna infree space (). If constructed from thin conductors, the current distribution is essentially sinusoidal and the radiating electric field is given by:
where is the angle between the antenna axis and the vector to the observation point, is the peak current at the feed-point, is the permittivity of free-space, is the speed of light in a vacuum, and is the distance to the antenna in meters. When the antenna is viewed broadside () the electric field is maximum and given by :
Solving this formula for the peak current yields
:
The average power to the antenna is
:
where is the center-fed half-wave antenna’s radiation resistance. Substituting the formula for into the one for and solving for the maximum electric field yields
:
Therefore, if the average power to a half-wave dipole antenna is 1 mW, then the maximum electric field at 313 m (1027 ft) is 1 mV/m (60 dBµ).
For a short dipole () the current distribution is nearly triangular. In this case, the electric field and radiation resistance are
:
Using a procedure similar to that above, the maximum electric field for a center-fed short dipole is
:
It must be emphasized that the formulas above are illustrative and only apply when there are no conductive objects near the antenna and observation point and when the path between the two is unobstructed. Consequently, they might not provide accurate estimates of signal strength for radio transmitters in environments where signals are scattered and absorbed by buildings, the terrain and vegetation.
Cellphone signals
Although there are cell phone base station tower networks across many nations globally, there are still many areas within those nations that do not have good reception. Some rural areas are unlikely ever to be effectively covered since the cost of erecting a cell tower is too high for only a few customers. Even in high reception areas it is often found that basements and the interiors of large buildings have poor reception.
Weak signal strength can also be caused by
destructive interference of the signals from local towers in urban areas, or by the construction materials used in some buildings causing rapid attenuation of signal strength. Large buildings such as warehouses, hospitals and factories often have no usable signal further than a few metres from the outside walls.This is particularly true for the networks which operate at higher
frequency since these are attenuated more rapidly by intervening obstacles, although they are able to usereflection anddiffraction to circumvent obstacles.Cell phones in the U.S. operate at around 800 MHz and PCS phones at 1900 MHz, classified as
UHF and low energymicrowaves respectively. This has led to the rapid growth in the homecellular repeater market. The more advanced models now typically include an externaldirectional antenna and an amplifier (usually operating at 55 dBgain ), which is generally enough to turn a very weak signal into a clear one over the local area (from around a thousand square feet to over twenty thousand).References
ee also
*
Cell network
*Cell phone
*Dropped call
*Cellular repeater
*Dead zone (cell phone)
*S meter External links
* [http://www.signalmap.com Cell Phone Signal Strength Map]
* [http://www.wi-ex.com Wi-Ex: Extending Cell Zones]
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