# An Optimized Planning Tool for Microwave Terrestrial and Satellite Link Design
## 6 Conclusions  
In this paper, a tool was developed that is able to automatize the process of the project design of terrestrial and satellite microwave communication systems, thus minimizing the time spent on this phase of the project. This tool abides by the most recent ITU-R Recommendations at the time of development.  
Apart from performing the needed calculations, the tool also provides processes to warn the user when an element of the project design is detrimental to the project, as well as how to fix the problem found.  
Even though there are tools currently available for similar use, it was found that the majority of the tools available are outdated or bare a large financial investment for engineering students and institutions. Contrarily, the developed tool provides a free-to-use experience, hence mostly advantageous to students. Furthermore, the developed tool can be applied for both academic and professional use by providing a greater understanding of design elements for students and a fast and direct approach for professional project designers.  
To validate the outputted results, independent previously designed projects were simulated using the developed tool, to verify whether the results in both instances matched.  
There was an opportunity to interact with professional users in this field who tested this tool, and the result was very positive, as their feedback enabled us to optimize the tool, adding additional and useful features.  
Thus, a new method for obstacle detection was created. The use of a simplified ray-tracing algorithm allowed us to not only detect obstacles in a link path but also to minimize its attenuation on the signal and the corresponding signal reflections that can  
Figure 19: Project step display feature.  
Figure 18: Professional project layout option.  
be found in the receiving antenna. Despite the level of complexity of this algorithm and having an elevated execution time when compared with two-dimensional algorithms, the developed algorithm exhibits an increased level of precision, by considering all the elements in a link path and path surroundings, which highlights the greater scientific value of the developed tool.  
Software, E.F.; Investigation, E.F.; Writing--original draft, E.F.; Writing--review & editing, P.S., F.C., C.S.C. and A.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This work was funded by FCT/MCTES through national funds and when applicable co-funded by EU funds under the project UIDB/50008/2020.  
Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from each participant before article submission. consent was obtained from each participant before article submission.  
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy.  
A special thanks to the Portuguese Army Directorate of Communications and Information Systems for welcoming us with open doors and for the combined effort to make the presented tool better in every possible way.  
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest, financial or otherwise.  
The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript:  
\begin{tabular}{l l} API & Application programming interface \\ BBER & Background block error ratio \\ BER & Bit-error ratio \\ CSS & Cascading style sheets \\ DCSI & Portuguese Army Directorate of Communications and Information Systems \\ ESR & Errored second ratio \\ GLB & GL transmission format binary \\ gITF & GL transmission format \\ HTML & HyperText markup language \\ IPC & Ideal propagation conditions \\ ITU-R & International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector \\ JSON & JavaScript object notation \\ LoS & Line of sight \\ NPM & Node Package Manager \\ PSK & Phase-shift keying \\ QAM & Quadrature amplitude modulation \\ QoS & Quality of service \\ RBER & Residual BER \\ SNR & Signal-to-noise ratio \\ TLE & Two-line element set \\ \end{tabular}