Chapter Four
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RF Signal Propagation and Reception
The first part of this chapter described the various techniques that are
used to encode and modulate an input data stream onto a radio frequency
carrier. The following four sections discuss the various factors that impact
on the transmission, propagation and reception of radio waves, which will
enable an estimate to be made of the power requirements for a given
wireless networking application.
The key factors are transmitter power, antenna gain at the transmitter,
propagation or link losses, antenna gain once again at the receiving
station, and finally receiver sensitivity. Taken together these factors ...