 Good afternoon everybody. I hope you can hear me well if you can't raise your hand in chat or something like that and say You're talking a lot of rubbish All of a sudden 47 hands go up in chat saying you're talking a lot of rubbish I Need to make an apology to you all And that is due to some diary clashes for myself this afternoon So although I'm here and I'm going to do some introductions for you Across the next few minutes, I've actually got a duck out reasonably quickly And although you know, I've been Alive and in this country for over half a century apparently I can't work out the difference between Greenwich meantime and British summertime. So I've been sat on this webinar since half past two I'm kidding, but it did come to light earlier today that some of us have got the Some of us got the times wrong in our diaries and that has just caused a whole heap of knock-on effect That's going to be a bit of a pain for me this afternoon. So a huge apologies to everybody I will start I will do the introductions and I will let you Carry on without me. So I'm going to disappear and I apologize for that Obviously, those of you that know me will get in touch if you need to get in touch Anyway, I will tell you that from MS distribution. We do have Tom one of our account managers Sat in the meeting. I actually can't see him in the list, but I hope he's here So Tom Dearsley, it will sit and listen and understand everything that's going on So if you've got any questions, feel free to fire something to him sales at msdisc.co.uk He will be sat waiting for any of your queries at the back end of the webinar. So that without further ado, I'll Actually introduce you to the to the guys that are here to help us today Maybe before I do that, I'll just explain why I think this is quite exciting in the marketplace I have been and will continue to be an exponent of Actually running radios within regulation Because we ought to do that and we ought not be naughty people. I apologize to any of our listeners and viewers in Ireland I understand you do something completely different Miro will tell you all about that. I'm not allowed to I stick strictly to what off-common comrades say about the world And so that the really interesting thing about this Technology that RF elements have developed over a number of years is exactly what you're going to learn about in the beam Efficiency if you can turn the power down and still get good data three puts And that's a really good thing anywhere in the world. I can tell you so I'm a huge exponent of this technology I hope that what you'll hear today will be something that's really interesting and and peak some interest for you So on the call we have Miro who is UK Ireland representative for RF elements, but more importantly we have Thomas with us Thomas is One of the headline RFE guys who understand this stuff inside out. So please Do feel free to ask him all the challenging questions you can in the world And if he can't answer them well, nobody in the world can answer them probably if we don't know the answers to something You know leave it with us as a challenge. I promise we will come back to you and answer your questions So please do feel free to fire questions in as we get through the presentation I will be here sitting around for a little while before I have to jump off for my next meeting But Miros with us Thomas is here to run the Webinar for us Thomas over to you. Thank you, sir Thank you very much. I'm for for this introduction and I don't know should I say was it a little bit overstatement in terms of being able to answer everything and anything But I'll definitely try try my best. So Again, welcome. I would like to welcome all of the attendees from UK To to this webinar on behalf of RF elements. I am Tomasz Wolenski and I'm a product manager and and marketing manager with RF elements and Today we'll we'll tell you why beam efficiency is the most important antenna parameter In Wisp networks at least when it comes to the unlicensed band Which is of course very much utilized So let's jump right to the topic So antennas have many so-called textbook parameters and being a Wisp Well, the question is do you need to know about each and every one of them and the answer is of course not So in the Wisp industry, there are there are only a few antenna parameters that you should really know and care about now in general It's fair to say that many of the antenna parameters are connected to one another sometimes in in a complex way the textbook parameters are are usually thought of to Express the ability of antenna to to deal with the interference are front of a great shield side low-levels or Etsy masks Now these you most likely know or at least heard about So the one that we at RF elements believe is the most important in terms of noise suppression is beam efficiency Beam efficiency is the ratio of the energy contained in the main lobe to the total energy An antenna radiates now in other words, it tells you what part of the radiated energy is going into the main loop Yeah, so the higher the beam efficiency is the more energy is in the main lobe in which in Other words is where we want it to be and less everywhere else, which in other words means in the side lobes Since side lobes do a lot of harm in the unlicensed networks beam efficiency of antennas you use Is something that is really worth knowing about and not only that actually not only to know about but also included Into your decision-making as a as a factor when thinking about how to deal with interference issues you might have So to give you a practical example here you see the radiation pattern of a generic parabolic dish antenna So if it's beam efficiency is 40% Now this means that the 40% of the power the antenna radiates goes into the main lobe How about the remaining 60% then well naturally the remaining 60% Goes everywhere else and since everything outside the main lobe is a side lobe it goes into the side lobes Know that all the side lobes are highlighted in the drawing and it's not just fancy graphics It's actually how the beam efficiency is really calculated. It includes all the side lobes of an antenna So if you want to compare two antennas in terms of side lobe performance or noise rejection, if you will Beam efficiency makes it extremely simple. So the higher number wins It's as simple as that in this example the the ultra horn on the left has beam efficiency of 99% So only 1% of the power it radiates is in the side lobes On the other hand the generic dish antenna has beam efficiency of 40% so the remaining 60% of the energy is In the side lobes, so clearly 99% is more than 40% Which is why ultra horn is better antenna in terms of noise suppression and probably probably the best on the market To be fair though Let's have a look at the parameters you you might already know so front of the ratio is one of them and Many antenna manufacturers include it in your antenna data sheets So let's have a small recap of front of the ratio The conventional thinking about front of the ratio is that if it's high It means that antenna is is good for dense collocation So if the antennas are back-to-back and both have high front of the ratio, they will not interfere with each other the reality is that Front of a ratio does not mean that antenna is good for dense collocation in every possible setting It's simply a misconception It is important to understand is because the next time you may have a conversation about front of the ratio You you can be sure that if anyone tells you that high front of a ratio means an antenna is good for dense collocation, you know that the person is either misinformed or Simply didn't go deep enough with the topic High front of a ratio means that the back loop is small Now this is the low pointing in the opposite direction as the manual now It can also mean that the group of side loops around the back loop is small depending on The definition or or the way the front of a ratio was determined in the first place So front of a ratio is is easy to understand I mean looking at the radiation pattern of an antenna I would in this example We show the pattern of a directional patch array The front of a ratio is the difference between the gain of the main loop and and the back loop which is pointing backwards In practice the front of a ratio is often determined based on the strongest side loop from a plus minus 30 degree solid angle around the back loop of You know then that's just because of possible manufacturing assembly or material imperfections now because of these imperfections the back loop Might not just be a single loop pointing backwards But it can be it can be divided and fractured into several minor minor loops around it and thus this extended definition Which is used obviously mainly mainly in practice when we're When we're actually Want to come to an experimental value of the front of a ratio? nevertheless Back loop is one of many silos antennas used in in West industry usually have So if back loop is one out of many silos, then it's probably not so important Now this is the typical error in Interpretation of front of a ratio it it doesn't say anything about the other side loops antenna may have When two antennas are exactly back-to-back, which is a rare kind of scenario So here the high front of a ratio can help to decrease the interference levels The the radios might see but as said before typical antenna used in this industry has plenty of side loops And the back loop itself can be quite complex So as soon as there are first more antennas on the same tower or more links at the same time obviously or The collocated antennas are not exactly back-to-back. You you're looking at potential issues of You know because of all the other silos High front of a ratio provides absolutely no protection in high-noise environments So for urban and sub-urban areas with other wireless links and the neighborhood or even on the same tower The the front of a ratio is simply irrelevant Now these other links may be yours or your competitors. I mean either way they're you know We're you know the the pool of the hardware you can choose from in the with industry is limited So you're most likely using similar hardware and Which means that their antennas most likely also have many side loops that create the noise That is received through the rest of the side loops Another parameter. I want to I want to mention briefly is sideload level. So in practical life Its value is similar to that of the front of a ratio. So let's have a look at the at more details here Side lobe level is the difference between the gain of the strongest side lobe and the main lobe Now as such it is a little bit more useful than the front of a ratio because it at least points out the strongest side lobe which says about antenna performance and It has some information of value in in the high-noise areas If side lobe level is high so the strongest side lobe is close to having the gain of the main lobe Well, that makes a very poor antenna for worse networks The issue with the side lobe level is that it doesn't talk about all the side lobes So a side lobe level is defined by the strongest side lobe Which again is only one side lobe out of many and defined at a single frequency on top of that Now since the side lobes are are usually changing with frequency the noise level also changes with them So despite you know what what the strongest side lobe is at a single frequency It's in the end not very useful in the bigger picture since Simply by switching the channel You know everything simply changes Now side lobe level is therefore similar metric to front of a ratio. It tells you what What the strongest side lobe is at one frequency about nothing about the rest of the side lobes Throughout the useful bandwidth of an antenna, which is the biggest issue with these metrics and waste networks All side lobes matter not just one To sum it up not all the antenna parameters are practically useful for waste networks It depends on the on the context an antenna is used in and in the end It is up to the users and actually mainly the manufacturers to responsibly look at each antenna parameter and Evaluate whether it is useful in the framework of Waste networks or not So the conclusion for the front of the ratio and side lobe level clearly says that these two are not so important They tell a very limited part of the Story of the side lobes and if you're wondering why waste antenna manufacturers use them Well, my my guess would be that it's basically a remnant of the times when these parameters We were the only ones that were easy to determine You know without enough computational power, which is clearly Completely different today when the computational power is very cheap and abundant You may also hurt all of the Etsy masks now Which to a degree also serve as a parameter that says how well antennas perform in the in terms of noise So let's have a closer look at the Etsy masks It's it's important to clarify that the Etsy masks consider two principle cuts of the antenna radiation pattern So the azimuth and elevation and so these masks consider two slices Of the whole 3d radiation pattern. So again rather incomplete measure from the point of view of the whole radiation pattern and All the side lobes that matter in with metrics Etsy masks are observed at three frequency points to the beginning middle and And at the end of the spectrum and antenna works in Nevertheless the the rest of the spectrum which is rather wide in the case of the waste networks is is not included in the Etsy definition So how do we get to the actual Etsy masks themselves and how do they look like? starting with the polar plot you you may know from the antenna data sheets and kind of redrawing it on on an XY plot the Etsy masks is Etsy masks is the the blue dashed line which says That the radiation pattern should stay below the mask so that in 10 an antenna can be declared compliant with a given Etsy norm So this mask is changing with angle Which results into it having a few steps visible from from the plot now with the radiation pattern doesn't stay below the mask At any of the frequency points at which it is defined the the antenna is not compliant Which is the case and in this particular? Example as you can see from the drawing at the at the edges of the of the radiation pattern so the masks are easy to understand and to their credit they do consider the whole 360 degrees of A circle yeah, let's say that one slice the circle of the radiation pattern But unfortunately on the two cuts of the whole 3d radiation pattern at very frequency points of the whole spectrum An antenna works in so the vast majority of the spectrum is Just not included Now therefore in terms of the interference suppression there. They're also not so useful So whenever you see an antenna being compliant with the Etsy norm of any number Know that it does not bring much added value in terms of Suppressing the noise in with networks, especially the more broadband. They are the more broad band frequency band you're using So at RF elements we strongly believe in in doing the right thing for the customer and the industry at the same time So we looked into the textbooks as well and found out about the beam efficiency Which is the most complete measure of sidelopes out there if it's used well Now when I say the most complete I'm not just trying to push some marketing fluff through through your ears and in the following slides. I will make it clear why So beam efficiency is the parameter wasps should have been looking for it It really gives the right answer to the right question about sidelopes Despite you might have never heard about beam efficiency before We at RF elements we do what we believe is the best for the customer even if it means bringing Bringing on board something not considered before and which might be different from what other manufacturers say If beam efficiency is the ratio of the energy contained in the main loop to the total energy on antenna radiates It is also a measure of sidelopes so we can get the percentage of The sidelopes by subtract subtracting the beam efficiency from the hundred percent we can get beam efficiency of an antenna by By measurement done in an unequivocal chamber like the one you can see in the image where the antenna is attached to a rotary stage which Rotates it in in two axes and it can measure the radiation pattern of an antenna the whole 3d radiation pattern So based on the measurement rate of the antenna we we can calculate the beam efficiency if the model of an antenna is precise enough or An antenna is is rather simple We can use simulation software to do the same thing to obtain the radiation pattern and based on that We can calculate the beam efficiency So again, if the efficiency is 40% the the 40% of the power and antenna radiates is in the main loop The remaining 60% therefore must be in the sidelopes because where else would it be if it's not in the main loop? so note that all the sidelopes are highlighted and So that means the beam efficiency includes all the sidelopes of an antenna Not just one or a slice of the radiation pattern, but the whole package the full 3d data Similarly with sector antennas So here is an example of an antenna with beam efficiency of 58% So the remaining 42% of the energy this antenna radiates is in the sidelopes Now wasps use a wide chunk of spectrum But in the antenna textbooks the the beam efficiency is defined at a single frequency as well and Actually for a single polarization Now this is the case for for most textbook parameters And again, it's up to the user and mainly the manufacturer to consider where the one should care about the whole bandwidth or Just a single frequency point Since the computational power is much more affordable nowadays than it was in the past The the choice between wideband or narrowband information is really just a matter of deciding what is important Rather than figuring out what we what we can do or what we're capable of doing today We can easily do both no big deal Now in with industry it it makes perfect sense to average the beam efficiency over the whole bandwidth The antenna is working in because wasps use their antennas in a wide frequency band So it only makes sense that an antenna should perform well in the whole bandwidth now therefore we extended the textbook definition of beam efficiency to To a number that is an average of beam efficiency over the whole useful bandwidth of our antennas and over both Polarizations now this turns the textbook definition of beam efficiency in sort of a Super parameter if you will it is much more robust and more reliable measure of the sideload performance than the single frequency and single polarization version or Anything else that may be out there so vast majority of antennas used for sectorial coverage and Wisp networks are Either patch erase or horns So the patch erase have many frequency dependent silos So their beam efficiency values are around 60 percent depending on the manufacturing and design quality the RF elements horns both Symmetrical and asymmetrical have beam efficiency between 90 and 95 percent So you can see other horns in this graph as well This is to highlight that it takes a considerable effort to actually design a horn such that its beam efficiency is high The stable and zero sideload performance is is not a given as soon as you use horn But we put a lot of effort into optimizing our antennas to have beam efficiency of at least 90 percent Similarly the point-to-point antennas the patch erase are again at the bottom of the beam efficiency performance because of the many frequency dependent silos that collect and transmit the noise which hurts any and every Wisp network Now dishes are somewhat better and generally the bigger the dish antenna the better the beam efficiency becomes if the antenna is carefully designed and well manufactured to to make give you a complete information now with any antenna though the compromises accepted at the design stage simply cannot be compensated by the Manufacturing quality since the real-world result results are at best Approaching the design-based simulation, which really is ideal in in every sense Now what is interesting here though is is the ultra horn so its beam efficiency is 99% Over the whole bandwidth of operation in both polarizations the beam efficiency of ultra horn is practically perfect Now only 1% of the RF signal is in a sideload So if you ever wondered if ultra horn is worth the extra cash compared to a dish with the similar gain You you have a very clear answer here with 99% of beam efficiency It's probably the best performing antenna on the market in terms of of noise suppression So the noisier the area you want to deploy it in is the more The more value you get out of using ultra horn compared to a dish with similar gain So beam efficiency tells you everything about silo performance The higher it is the better the antenna performs as simple as that So, you know forget the front-to-back ratio of sideload levels or Etsy masks and focus on on the beam efficiency of an antenna When when dealing with noise Not only it is the most complete measure of sideloads But it is also extremely robust measure of sideloads because of the averaging over the whole frequency band and both Polarizations as as I explained Now since it rarely happens that a wireless link is situated in a completely isolated place the Interference is present almost everywhere now the noisier the environment the more important the beam efficiency of an antenna becomes Because the higher the beam efficiency the better the noise isolation Recently you can also hear the claims of other antenna manufacturers saying for example Well this sector patcher antenna works like horn in terms of avoiding the noise or or similar Statements now to these claims. I would I would immediately ask a question What was the beam efficiency of this antenna you're talking about now if the beam efficiency is of similar values Then I would surely agree But otherwise if a beam efficiency is anything below 90% you can be sure that they are definitely not the same So in the following section, I will tell you about the practical consequences of using an antenna with high beam efficiency Now we can sum up the effect of high beam efficiency antennas into a single statement higher throughput So in a sector with no other links in the area You don't mind the side lobes really as they but as the number of sectors starts to grow their side lobes cause the noise floor to rise And higher noise floor equals lower throughput So the beam efficiency of patcher a sectors is on the order of 60% meaning the remaining 40% of the energy Are side lobes that collect and transmit their interference to other links within your Yours but also the competitors networks. So low beam efficiency equals To lower throughput and consequently more unsatisfied customers So low beam efficiency of dish antennas works in a similar way The side lobes collect the noise from its surroundings and transmit it to all the neighboring links as well So whether it's a backhauling or a distant narrow sector the beam efficiency around 45% means a low throughput in high noise areas Replacing the low beam efficiency patcher a sector by a horn antenna with with beam efficiency up to 99% The the noise level in the urban and high density areas is effectively avoided Because high beam efficiency means no side lobes and no side lobes means no interference And the final effect of which is high throughput Addressing the most pressing problem of with networks becomes a lot more easier and a lot more straightforward Only one final advice here really use antennas with high beam efficiency High beam efficiency equals to high throughput The radio manufacturers are also trying to do their part and help with the issue of noise. So gps synchronization Which ensures that the radios in your network transmit and receive at the same time protects you From self interference, but not from the side lobes of the competitors antennas So high beam efficiency antenna ensures you don't have to worry about interference at all It does not receive it So you don't need to try to deal with it in the first place So beam efficiency is a very practical antenna parameter where Before the discussion about the side lobes was limited to okay, this antenna has many side lobes This antenna has very little side lobes or this antenna doesn't have any or this antenna has Beam efficiency provides a number from zero to hundred percent And it is easy to compare the sideload performance no more no more long quarrels about this one has less this one is more Just tell tell the number and everything's clear. So now You know that the front of a ratio or side loop level are parameters that are are not important nor useful in whisk industry Especially in the unlicensed bands because they only consider One side lobe out of many an antenna might have so beam efficiency includes all the side lobes Which makes it a very useful metric including all the side lobes remove any ambiguity And you can be sure that this metric is reliable And always ask whether a parameter is single frequency or wideband because in whisk industry the wideband is simply a must Because the spectrum is shared by many and now therefore the wideband performance is vital RF elements addition to the beam efficiency definition is to to average it over both polarizations into a whole Uh antenna bandwidth so you cannot do better than that literally So therefore beam efficiency is the ultimate measure to judge antennas by in whisk industry And it is a tool in your hands actually to make better decision for yourself for your business So please use it and actually ask for it If an antenna you're looking at doesn't have it in its data sheet, you know When the pressure comes from the users the manufacturers will have to answer eventually right And to make it easy for For users of our antennas. We we added the beam efficiency The figures of our antennas into all our data sheets. So we are transparent manufacturer and want to provide our customers the information that is important And user education is also important part of our awareness activities and it is one of our many First in the whisk industry things that we at RF elements can put on display So our our idea is that only an educated customer can make a qualified decision So we're also very open about myth-busting because there are many myths and misconceptions And that can create big problems to many users So on youtube you can find our channel with the name inside wireless, which Is a series of short educational videos about all kinds of things Concerning the the antennas in whisk industry We also have an online community Either on the major social media Like facebook obviously twitter and but we also have rftlab.com Yeah, which is our Which is our user forum where you can register and ask your questions. We announce the Participation of our elements on on industry events And also upload recordings of webinars such as this one and other videos Of course a lot, but at least you can also search through the questions already asked if you if you have any And the trademark disclaimer is i don't think we used any in this webinar So i'll just skip that and now is time to end my monologue