Q: What is the radio range of the ORS ?
A: There are many factors which can have an impact on the radio range. Here is a list of important factors which you need to all take into account to obtain a good range:
- Frequency: The higher your frequency, the less range you will have. Do not expect to cover large outdoor areas with frequency such as 3600 MHz
- Bandwidth: The lower the bandwidth, the more range you will have. However keep in mind that throughput is proportional to the bandwidth.
- UE Power: If your UE is a standard phone, it won't be able to emit more than 200mW, therefore increasing the power of your base unit will not matter anymore. Communication has to work both ways, having a 10W or 40W is only useful if you want to connect more phones. Using a 1W base station (compared to a 40W base station) will not make a difference, unless you have high power UEs
- Antenna model: Do not use our stick antennas we provide with the ORS, these are for short distance testing only, you will need to invest in better quality antennas to get a good range
- Antenna height: The higher your antenna, the more range you will have. Don't expect too much if your antenna is only 4m high.
- Antenna angle: Your antenna needs to be in a vertical plane, otherwise the signal will go straight into the ground and your range will be greatly reduced
- Environment: Trees or buildings in the way will reduce the range, especially on higher frequencies which do not travel through walls, but reflect on them instead.
- Radio quality: Make sure you are able to adjust transmission and reception gain on the field to get the best radio quality.
Here is a table recording different tests made by ourselves or our clients using our ORS:
| |
Antenna Height |
Antenna Type |
Environment |
Distance |
| Band |
|
|
|
ORS B28 |
ORS B38 |
ORS B39 |
ORS B39 |
ORS B39 |
ORS B43 |
DECT B39 |
DMR |
| Frequency |
|
|
|
700 MHz |
2600 MHz |
1900 MHz |
1900 MHz |
1900 MHz |
3500 MHz |
1900 MHz |
113 MHz |
| Bandwidth |
|
|
|
5 MHz |
20 MHz |
20 MHz |
5 MHz |
1.4 MHz |
40 MHz |
1.72 MHz |
0.012 MHz |
| Maximum data transfer speed |
|
|
|
35 Mbps |
140 Mbps |
140 Mbps |
35 Mbps |
10 Mbps |
320 Mbps |
0.06 Mbps |
0.01 Mbps |
| Base station required |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
no |
| Rice field (Thailand) |
4m |
High gain omni |
Line of sight with 70% humidity |
4.2 km |
1 km |
1.5 km |
2.1 km |
3 km |
500 m |
300 m |
5 km |
| Valleys between mountains (France) |
10m |
High gain omni |
Line of sight and dry air |
10 km |
2 km |
2 km |
3.2 km |
6 km |
1 km |
|
|
| Village with trees (Thailand and France) |
4m |
High gain omni |
Low density trees and constructions |
1.2 km |
300 m |
400 m |
600 m |
1 km |
100 m |
50 m |
5 km |
| Technology Park (Vietnam and Thailand) |
30m |
High gain panel |
Low density trees and constructions |
4 km |
2 km |
1 km |
1.5 km |
2 km |
250 m |
|
|
| Indoor Coverage |
|
|
High density constructions (brick) |
300 m |
80 m |
140 m |
180 m |
200 m |
30 m |
20 m |
|
You can use this table as an indicator of what you may get on your test. For example, if you use B40 ORS (2400MHz) you know that your results will be between B39 (1900MHz) and B38 (2600MHz). In any case, for precise simulation of the radio propagation, you need to get the help from a specialist as this field requires expert people and advanced software.
Note about the importance of the antenna angle
Antenna perfectly vertical :
Antenna with a tilt:
As you can see even a small tilt from the antenna can have a huge impact on the range of the ORS. For example, consider just an angle of 8° compared to the vertical, if your antenna is at 10m high (which is already a lot) the radio beam will "touch the ground" at a distance of 71m from the ORS (10/sin(8)).