Link Budget

This app calculates RF (and FSO) link budgets for digital communication links.

The user enters link parameters such as transmit power, antenna gains, link distance, bit rate etc. This allows the received signal quality to be evaluated. Many link parameters allow different input options. For example the antenna gain may be given in dBi, or the diameter of a dish antenna in meters. This app deals with digital communication links, rather than analog systems.

This app includes several on-line examples, for satellite and terrestrial communications, plus brief notes on interesting or novel aspects of these links. Examples range from very short links to space communications. A link is provided to a short tutorial on link budget parameters and the formulas used in the app. The latest version provides information on the bandwidth options, given the Eb/N0.

The first screenshot shows the parameters required for a new link budget.

Each of the 8 parameters allows appropriate units to be selected, and provides brief hints. After entering suitable parameters, the user presses the "CALC" button to evaluate the link budget. Numerical values (in dB) that contribute to the final Eb/N0 result are shown in the second screenshot which is one of the examples (Ka Band Mars return link).

The final bit error rate performance of a digital RF link depends on the Eb/N0 and the modulation/error correction schemes. The examples provide some brief pointers to these issues but modulation and coding are not covered in detail.

This app will give accurate values for Eb/N0 for point to point radio links where the path loss is easily calculated. It doesn't attempt to cover the path loss in obstructed links (e.g. cellular communications) or links subject to multipath fading, although some examples mention these issues.

The current version also offers a few examples of point to point free space optical (FSO) links. In these cases the performance metric is photons per bit.

The app doesn't collect any data from users. A user may store one set of link budget parameters, plus their own brief text, about their link budget. These parameters just remain in the app on the installed device.