Measurement of Antenna Performance in Analog LMR Systems Using PL Tone Analysis

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dc.contributor.authorKumar, Akshayen
dc.contributor.committeechairEllingson, Steven W.en
dc.contributor.committeememberClancy, Thomas Charles IIIen
dc.contributor.committeememberBeex, A. A. Louisen
dc.contributor.departmentElectrical and Computer Engineeringen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T21:51:20Zen
dc.date.adate2013-01-11en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T21:51:20Zen
dc.date.issued2012-11-30en
dc.date.rdate2013-01-11en
dc.date.sdate2012-12-10en
dc.description.abstractWe are interested in measuring the in situ antenna performance in analog land mobile radio (LMR) FM systems. The gain (efficiency and directivity) and self-impedance of an antenna sufficiently characterize its performance and a number of traditional methods exist to measure these quantities. However it is hard to do antenna gain measurements using these methods. Furthermore, it turns out that volumetric antenna gain measurements are not quite relevant for understanding in situ performance. In this thesis, we present a novel approach for directly measuring the in situ performance of antennas in analog LMR systems. The procedure involves receiving an FM signal simultaneously using the antenna under test (AUT) and a reference antenna. Both received signals are demodulated to audio using separate but identical receivers. Then a convenient method for characterizing the audio signal quality is to analyze the private line (PL) tone. The PL tone signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is calculated by measuring the power of the tone relative to the sub-audio noise power. The PL tone SNR for both antenna systems is compared as it provides a ``bottom line'' evaluation of the antenna performance. The audio SNR can also be mapped to RF SNR using a theoretical method. From simulation and experimental studies, we conclude that the RF SNR estimated using this technique is within 0.5 dB of the actual value for RF SNR values between +3 and +36 dB. Finally, we demonstrate this procedure in actual in situ LMR antenna measurements.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.identifier.otheretd-12102012-171705en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-12102012-171705/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/46188en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartKumar_A_T_2012.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectAntennasen
dc.subjectAntenna performanceen
dc.subjectin-situ measurementsen
dc.subjectLMR systemsen
dc.subjectRF SNRen
dc.subjectPublic Safety Radioen
dc.titleMeasurement of Antenna Performance in Analog LMR Systems Using PL Tone Analysisen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineElectrical and Computer Engineeringen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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