Inside Wireless: How RF coverage works
Channel: RF elements s.r.o.
Date: 18/11/2020

RF Coverage is NOT equal to Beam width.. What is it then? After watching this Inside Wireless video, you'll understand what RF coverage is and how it works. The RF waves are invisible, but we can still visualize them using pseudo-colors. Many more components go into its calculation and it is wrong to say that section of a circle with angular width corresponding to the antenna beam width is a good approximation of coverage. Find out more in our latest Inside Wireless episode.

RF coverage calculation components are:
* Antenna radiation pattern
* Antenna realized gain
* RF radio output power
* Map data
* Antenna site coordinates
* Antenna down tilt, height above ground

Various online tools offer RF coverage calculations of various accuracies. Factors that are difficult to include in the calculation yet can strongly influence its accuracy are changing foliage, weather conditions, or flora passing the line of sight of a link.

Many WISPs like the idea that coverage corresponds to the beam width because it's intuitive and easy to understand. It is misleading to say the least and often leaves users confused when they get mixed results in the field deployment. 

On top of that, there are other factors such as Fresnel zones (https://youtu.be/v371pPLdf_c) that might complicate things in the real world deployments as well. Nevertheless, if there is one thing to remember from this video, it's:

COVERAGE IS A CONTINUOUS IMAGE OF RF SIGNAL IN AN AREA.

Learn more: https://rfelements.com/

0:00 intro
0:16 Common ideas about coverage
0:56 Coverage calculation components
1:13 Coverage example
1:40 Pseudo-color visualization
2:17 Multi-color visualization

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