Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng.

Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

Coaxial Cable System:

Introduction to Cables:

The transmission medium is the physical path between transmitter and receiver in a
data transmission system. It is included in the physical layer of the OSI (Open Systems
Interconnection model) protocol hierarchy. The transmission medium is usually free space,
metallic cable, or fiber-optic cable. The information is usually a signal that is the result of a
conversion of data from another form.

Transmission media can be generally categorized as either unguided or guided.

Guided Transmission Media uses a "cabling" system (or some sort of conductor) that guides
the data signals along a specific path. The data signals are bound by the "cabling" system.
Guided Media is also known as Bound Media. The conductor directs the signal propagating
down it. Only devices physically connected to the medium can receive signals propagating
down a guided transmission medium. Examples of guided transmission media are copper
wire and optical fiber.

Unguided Transmission Media consists of a means for the data signals to travel but
nothing to guide them along a specific path. The data signals are not bound to a cabling media
and as such are often called Unbound Media. Unguided transmission media are wireless
systems. Signals propagating down an unguided transmission medium are available to
anyone who has a device capable of receiving them.

A physical facility is one that occupies space and has weight as opposed to wireless
media such as earth’s atmosphere or a vacuum and includes metallic cables and optical
cables. Metallic transmission lines includes open-wire, twin-lead, and twisted-pair copper
wire as well as coaxial cable, and optical fibers include plastic and glass-core fibers
encapsulated in various kinds of cladding materials.

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

Wire and cable transmission lines are utilized in communication networks to

transmit frequencies form near zero cycles for telegraph low speed data and signaling to
several mega cycles for high-capacity carrier systems and TV. The principal types are:
- Open wire
- Multipair cable, existing in one of these types:
Buried, underground (in conduit), submarine and self-supporting cables.
- Special facilities includes these types:
• Coaxial cables
• Video cables

a) Open-wire:
Refers to bare line conductors supported on insulator equipped cross arms which in
turn are mounted on poles spaced approximately 40-50 m. Economically open wire can be
considered only if traffic requirements are very small (< 10 circuits).
Wet weather increases the attenuation of open wire lines, they are also susceptible to
mechanical damage from storms, man action, interference from other communication lines
and all other sources of man-made noise. Three types are in general use:
1. Hard drawn copper wire:
used because of high conductivity and corrosion resistance, typical diameters: 104,
128 and 165 mils.
2. High tensile strength steel wire:
used on short circuits because of low conductivity, poles span can be longer.
3. Copper-clad steel wire:
Extra high strength steel wire surrounded by copper. Copper clad characteristics is a
compromise between superior strength A characteristics and better electrical
characteristics of copper. Typical diameters same as (1) above.

b) Multipair cable:
They come in 10, 20, ..., 1000, and almost all numbers of pairs with these sizes
(diameter) 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.9 mm. Each pair can carry a voice channel or used as a
trunk for a group of voice channels on one carrier. There are four types of
multipairs:
1. Aerial cable placed on poles (self-supporting)
This type disadvantage is being susceptible to severe damage from storms,
hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earth quakes and man-made caused action.
2. Buried cable (directly in the ground) is relatively free from the catastrophic effects. It
can be installed faster than self-supporting and has lower annual operating and
maintenance costs.
3. Under-ground cables placed in the conduit.
4. Submarine for shallow streams, rivers and lake crossings.

Special Facilities:
These include video cables, spiral four (disk insulated cables) and coaxial cables.

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

Video cable pair consists of two 16-gauge (1.291 mm diameter) copper wires each insulated
with expanded polyethylene. They are used for TV transmission between studios and
transmitters.

Figure (1): Copper wire transmission media: (a) unshielded twisted pair (UTP); (b) shielded
twisted pair (STP); (c) coaxial cable.

Introducation to Coaxial Cables:

The main limiting factors of a twisted-pair line are its (electrical) capacity and a
phenomenon known as the skin effect. As a result of these, as the bit rate (and hence
frequency) of the transmitted signal increases, the current flowing in the wires tends to flow
only on the outer surface of the wire, thus using less of the available cross-section. This
increases the electrical resistance of the wires for higher-frequency signals, leading to higher
attenuation. In addition, at higher frequencies, more signal power is lost as a result of
radiation effects. Hence, for applications that demand a high bit rate over long distances,
coaxial cable is often used as the transmission medium.

A coaxial cable is simply a transmission line consisting of an unbalanced pair made

up of an inner conductor surrounded by a grounded outer conductor, which is held in a
concentric configuration by a dielectric. The dielectric can be of many different types, such
as solid "poly" (polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride), foam, Spirafil, air, or gas. In the case of
air/gas dielectric, the center conductor is kept in place by spacers or disks.

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

Systems have been designed to use coaxial cable as a transmission medium with a
capability of transmitting an FDM configuration ranging from 120 to 13,200 voice channels.
Community antenna television (CATV) systems use single cables for transmitted bandwidths
on the order of 300 MHz.

FDM was developed originally as a means to increase the voice channel capacity of
wire systems. At a later date the same techniques were applied to radio. Then for a time, the
20 years after World War II, radio systems became the primary means for transmitting long-
haul toll telephone traffic. Lately coaxial cable has been making a strong comeback in this
area.

Coaxail Cables Advantages and Disadvantages:

One advantage of coaxial cable systems is reduced noise accumulation when

compared to radio links. For point-to-point multichannel telephony the FDM line frequency
configuration can be applied directly to the cable without further modulation steps as
required in radiolinks, thus substantially reducing system noise.

In most cases radiolinks will prove more economical than coaxial cable. Nevertheless,
owing to the congestion of centimetric radio wave systems (radiolinks), coaxial cable is
making a new debut. Coaxial cable should be considered in lieu of radiolinks using the
following general guidelines:

• In areas of heavy microwave (including radiolink) RFI.

• On high-density routes where it may be more economical than radiolinks. (Think here
of a system that will require 5000 circuits at the end of 10 years.)
• On long national or international backbone routes where the system designer is
concerned with noise accumulation.

Coaxial cable systems may be attractive for the transmission of TV or other video
applications. Some activity has been noted in the joint use of TV and FDM telephone channels
on the same conductor. Another advantage in some circumstances is that system
maintenance costs may prove to be less than for equal-capacity radiolinks.

One deterrent to the implementation of coaxial cable systems, as with any cable
installation, is the problem of getting the right-of-way for installation, and its subsequent
maintenance (gaining access), particularly in urban areas. Another consideration is the
possibility of damage to the cable once it is installed. Construction crews may unintentionally
dig up or cut the cable.

Design: Components and Principles

Transmission of direct current (DC) requires two conductors to complete the circuit.
One of the conductors is often referred to as the “go” wire, and the other as the “return” wire
(Figure (2) below).

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

With radio frequency (RF) transmission, the coaxial cable becomes a transmission
line where the “go” wire is the inner conductor, and the “return” wire is the outer conductor.
These two conductors share the same longitudinal axis, hence the name coaxial cable. The
outer conductor serves as an electrical shield for the cable and is typically covered by an
outer jacket sheath.

Figure (2): Coaxial cable components.

Components

a) The inner conductor is typically a copper or copper-clad material. Cost and weight
may be deferred using cladded conductors, which take advantage of a concept known
as the Skin Effect and high-frequency signal transmission. Inner conductors can also
be in the form of solid or stranded construction. Stranded conductors are utilized
where a greater degree of flexibility is required for the application. Below are a few
of the more common inner conductor materials used in basic coaxial cables:

1. Copper, solid
2. Copper, stranded
3. Copper-clad steel (CCS), solid
4. Copper-clad aluminum (CCA), solid
5. Silver-plated copper, solid
6. Others..

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

b) Separating the two conductors within a cable is done by an insulative material, better
known as dielectric insulator, which maintains a uniform distance between the
conductors. The uniform distance and structure are essential for a coaxial cable to
exhibit the desired RF performance, i.e. characteristic impedance, return loss and
attenuation. The type of insulator used in the cable construction also provides
mechanical strength and support for both the outer conductor and the overall cable
design. The physical attributes of the dielectric medium have a significant influence
upon the crush resistance stability, operating temperature, thermal stability, and
flame-retardant properties of the coaxial cable. Both solid and foamed polyethylene
(PE) dielectrics are flammable and are the primary fuel of this type of coaxial cable
when exposed to flame. The type of dielectric insulator used in the coaxial design also
has an equally important role to play with regard to the RF performance of the cable.
Electrical properties for the materials that are identified are the dielectric constant
and dissipation factor. The cable designer has to account for each of these features
and select the component material best matched to the desired RF and mechanical
performance of the coaxial cable and its application. The following are a few of the
dielectric insulator options that are available today:

1) Solid low density polyethylene (LDPE)

2) Cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE)
3) Solid polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
4) Solid fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP)
5) Others ….

c) The third component of a coaxial cable is the outer conductor. Just as with the inner
conductor and dielectric insulator, there are numerous outer conductor options
available, depending on the application and performance desired. The outer
conductor serves to provide RF shielding for ingress and egress. The outer conductor
also serves to complete and complement mechanical integrity of the coaxial cable
design. The earliest coaxial cables only utilized one outer conductor whereas today
engineers and designers use as many as four different layers of outer conductors to
achieve either mechanical strength or enhanced shielding performance, or both. The
four most common outer conductor layers used are as follows, and in order from
dielectric, outward:

1. Aluminum, tape, laminate w/polyester/polypropylene strength member,

longitudinally – bonded to dielectric
2. Aluminum, braid

Various types of outer conductor components are mixed or matched to achieve the
desired performance. A sampling of the many available outer conductor components
is given below:

1. Aluminum tube, smooth, solid or welded

2. Copper tube, corrugated, welded

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

3. Copper, braid
4. Copper, tape, solid, longitudinally or helically applied
5. Others …

d) Together, the three components discussed thus far are required in the basic makeup
of a coaxial cable. However, in industries where coaxial cables are used today, an
additional outer jacket sheath for protection and/or flame retardancy is often part of
the design. Coaxial cables may also include internal floodants for moisture or
corrosion protection, armor for added physical protection, an integral wire for aerial
installations, or even a fiber or twisted pair component attached to the cable sheath.
Such additional components have greatly increased the use of coaxial cables and
extended the longevity of the product based on performance and economics, when
compared to other options available. The following are a few of the more common
jacket sheath materials:

1) Polyethylene (PE)
2) Polyvinylchloride (PVC)

From the myriad of materials now available for each component of the coaxial cable design,
the configuration possibilities are seemingly without end. Add to this the fact that the RF
performance and design can be configured to provide varying impedance and attenuation
values, it then becomes easier to understand how coaxial cables continue to have significance
in today’s technology driven world (Figure (3)).

Figure (3): Typical hard line coaxcable used in CATV installation.

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

Of the many various configurations of coaxial cables that are available, shown here are but a
few (Figures (4) and (5) below).

Figure (4): Hybrid coaxial cable.

Figure (5): Drop coaxialcable ,Quad Shield. Source: Courtesy of Amphenol Broadband
Solutions.

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

BASIC CONSTRUCTION DESIGNS

Each coaxial line is called a tube. A pair of these tubes is required for full-duplex long-
haul application. One exception is the CCITT small-bore coaxial cable system where 120
voice channels, both "go" and "return," are accommodated in one tube. For long-haul systems
more than one tube is included in a sheath. In the same sheath filler pairs or quads are
included, sometimes placed in the interstices, depending on the size and lay-up of the cable.
The pairs and quads are used for order wire and control purposes as well as for local
communication. Some typical cable lay-ups are shown in Figure (6). Coaxial cable is usually
placed at a depth of 90-120 cm, depending on frost penetration, along the right-of-way.
Tractor- drawn trenchers or plows are used to open the ditch where the cable is placed, using
fully automated procedures.

Figure(6): Some basic coaxial lay-ups.

Cable repeaters are spaced uniformly along the route. Secondary or "dependent"
repeaters are often buried. Primary power feeding or "main" repeaters are installed in

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

surface housing. Cable lengths are factory cut so that the splice occurs right at repeater
locations.

Principles

Now that the components and a few of the more basic materials are understood,
attention will be focused on the basic principles of the design and function of a coaxial cable.
Basically, coaxial lines or cables are a transmission system wherein electromagnetic waves
are transmitted through a dielectric insulator bound by two conductive coaxial cylinders.
This is accomplished via transverse electromagnetic (TEM) wave-field propagation within
the coaxial cable. In this way, electrical energy, or signals, are transmitted from one location
to another. The physics related to the function of coaxial cables is defined and explained in
transmission line theory. For the purposes of this lecture, basic cable design formulary will
be given and explained as related to general use and function.

CABLE CHARACTERISTICS

For long-haul transmission, standard cable sizes are as follows:

(inches) (mm)
0.047/0.174 1.2/4.4 (small diameter)
0.104/0.375 2.6/9.5

The fractions express the outside diameter of the inner conductor over the inside diameter
of the outer conductor. For instance, for the large-bore cable the outside diameter of the
inner conductor is 0.104 in. and the inside diameter of the outer conductor is 0.375 in. This
is shown in Figure (7). Where, a = radius of inner conductor and b = radius of outer
conductor.

Figure (7): Basic electrical characteristics of coaxial cable.

Characteristic Impedance (Zo)

• Characteristic, or surge, impedance is the combined opposition to the flow of

electrical energy within the coaxial line or cable.
• Impedance is a complex value, derived from the combined equivalent of the
resistance, capacitance, and inductive and conductive values of the cable.

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

• This parameter is how the coaxial cable is generally defined, partly because it is
derived from all of the other electrical parameters of the cable design.
• Characteristic impedance (Zo) is expressed in ohms (Ω).
• The more common impedance values for today’s coaxial cable are 50, 75, and 93Ω.
• The type of coax and corresponding impedance will depend upon the application.
• To ensure the correct operation of a system using a signal source (e.g. a transmitter),
a length of feeder (e.g. coaxial cable), and a load (e.g. an antenna), the coaxial cable
impedance must match the source and the load. In this way the maximum transfer of
power is achieved between the source and the coaxial cable, and then between the
coaxial cable and the load.
• The best coaxial cable impedances in high-power, high-voltage, and low-attenuation
applications were experimentally determined at Bell Laboratories in 1929.
• They were found to be 30, 60, and 77Ω, respectively. For a coaxial cable with air
dielectric and a shield of a given inner diameter, the attenuation is minimized by
choosing the diameter of the inner conductor to give a characteristic impedance of
76.7 Ω. When more common dielectrics are considered, the best-loss impedance
drops to a value between 52 and 64 Ω. Maximum power handling is achieved at 30 Ω.

Characteristic impedance calculations

Zo Characteristic impedance (Ω)

𝜀r Dielectric constant, dielectric
d Diameter, inner conductor (in.)
𝜇vac Magnetic permeability of vacuum (H/m)
𝜀vac Electric permittivity of vacuum (F/m)
Vp Velocity of propagation (%)
𝜂vac Impedance of vacuum

Constants

𝜇vac 4𝜋 × 10−7
𝜀vac 8.854 × 10−12

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
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Calculations

𝜇$%&
𝜂!"# = &' )
𝜖$%&

𝜂$%& 𝑏
𝑍' = + . × 𝑉( × 𝑙𝑛 ' )
2×𝜋 𝑎

𝑏 138.03 𝑏
𝑍' = 60 × 𝑉( × 𝑙𝑛 ' ) ≈ 𝑍' = ' ) × 𝑙𝑜𝑔 ' )
𝑎 √ 𝜖) 𝑎

• The characteristic impedance of coaxial cable is Zo =138 log (b/a) for an air dielectric.
If b/a= 3.6, then Zo =77 Ω .
• Using dielectric other than air reduces the characteristic impedance. If we use the
disks mentioned above to support the center conductor, the impedance lowers to 75Ω.
• Figure (8), is a curve giving the attenuation per unit length in decibels versus
frequency for the two most common types of coaxial cable.

Figure (8): Attenuation-frequency-response per kilometer of coaxial cable.

• Attenuation increases rapidly as a function of frequency and is a function of the

square root of frequency.
• The transmission system engineer is basically interested in how much bandwidth is
available to transmit an FDM line frequency configuration.
• For instance, the 0.375-in, cable has an attenuation of about 5.8 dB/mi at 2.5 MHz and
the 0.174-in. cable, 12.8 dB/mi. At 5MHz the 0.174-in, cable has about 19 dB/mi and

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

the 0.375-in. cable, 10 dB/mi. Attenuation is specified for the highest frequency of
interest.
• Coaxial cable can transmit signals down to dc, but in practice, frequencies below 60
kHz are not used because of difficulties of equalization and shielding.
• Some engineers lift the lower limit to 312 kHz. The HF limit of the system is a function
of the type and spacing of repeaters as well as cable dimensions and the dielectric
constant of the insulating material.
• It will be appreciated from the previous figure that the gain frequency characteristics
of the cable follow a root frequency law, and equalization and preemphasis should be
designed accordingly.

Example: for a Series 6, Drop Coaxial Cable, derived Characteristic Impedance 𝜀r = 1.431 54;
dielectric constant for foamed polyethylene [5]
b = 0.180 in.
b = 0.0403 in.

1
𝑉( = ' )
√ 𝜖)

138.03 𝑏
𝑍' = ' ) × 𝑙𝑜𝑔 ' )
√𝜖) 𝑎

1
𝑉( = ' )
√1.43154

𝑉( = 0.82579

𝑍' = 74.98

Velocity of Propagation

Velocity of Propagation or Vp is defined as the speed at which the RF signal travels

through the coaxial cable with respect to the speed of light, which is 299 792 458 m/s in
vacuum or free space. Vp is represented as a percentage of the speed of light in a vacuum.
Using the example of a coaxial cable with a solid, LDPE dielectric, the Vp for a cable of this
type is 0.66 or 66%. A similar cable, but which is constructed with a gas-injected, foamed
polyethylene has a Vp of 0.836 or 84%. The higher the Vp of the coaxial cable, the faster
the signals travel from the source to the load. In conjunction, the higher the velocity of
propagation, the lower the attenuation losses of the coax design. These attenuation losses
will be discussed later in this lecture, but the end result is that a smaller cable can achieve
the same attenuation losses as a larger cable with a more dense dielectric or lower velocity
of propagation. With technology and machinery evolutions, coaxial cable manufacturers

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

have been able to produce dielectrics that yield 90% plus Vp for a GIFPE type. These
achievements are part of the reason that coaxial cables continue to evolve and extend their
relevancy in an ever-changing landscape (Table (1) below).

Table (1): Dielectric Information.

DIELECTRIC VP
SOLID POLYETHYLENE 66%
GAS-INJECTED FOAMED POLYETHYLENE (TRADITIONAL) 82%
GAS-INJECTED FOAMED POLYETHYLENE (NEW TECHNIQUES) 90%+

Capacitance

Capacitance of a coaxial cable is the ability of the cable to retain a charge. Therefore,
the greater the capacitance value the more is the charge that can be stored and the longer is
the time required for the signal to reach full amplitude. Capacitance of a coaxial cable is
length dependent and expressed in pico farads/length (m). For design purposes, it is
calculated utilizing the following formulary.

2 × 𝜋 × 𝜀) × 8.85 2 × 𝜋 × 1.43154 × 8.85

𝐶= ≈𝐶=
𝑏 0.180
𝑙𝑛 +𝑎. 𝑙𝑛 +0.0403.

C = 53.19 pF/m

Attenuation

• Attenuation is defined as the signal power loss within the coaxial cable, and is
dependent upon the cable design, frequency, and length.
• The two main attributes of a coaxial cable that effect its attenuation are DC resistance
and the dissipation factor of the dielectric insulator.
• After characteristic impedance, attenuation is the second most referenced attribute
of a cable, as it defines the length of cable required to maintain the signal level within
the closed network.
• The losses of a cable and accessories affect the need for amplification of the signal as
well.
• The units of measure for coaxial cable attenuation are neper per unit length, or dB
per unit length.
• A neper is a unit of loss and gain based on the natural, or Napierian, logarithm. The
decibel is a unit based on the common, or Briggsian, logarithm. The neper unit is 8.686
times larger than the decibel.
• To obtain the total attenuation for a given length of cable, the conductive losses and
dielectric losses are summed. The larger the cable the larger the conductive sources,
thus reducing the attenuation losses.

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• Conductive losses primarily reside along the inner conductor of the coaxial cable. This
factor is referred to as skin effect or skin depth, which is defined as follows: “Skin
effect is the tendency of an alternating electric current (AC) to become distributed
within a conductor such that the current density is largest near the outer surface
of the conductor, and decreases exponentially with greater depths in the
conductor. It is caused by opposing eddy currents induced by the changing
magnetic field resulting from the alternating current. The electric current flows
mainly at the skin of the conductor, between the outer surface and a level called
the skin depth .”

• As alternating current or RF signals increase in frequency, the energy travels

generally along the surface of the conductor, penetrating the conductor only at lesser
depths. This phenomenon has allowed manufacturers to utilize cladded conductors
for applications where the DC resistance of the coaxial cables is not as critical as the
losses at frequency.
• Skin effect in metallic conductors is an important part of the coaxial cable portions of
our networks.
• Skin effect ensures radio frequency (RF) signals stay inside of the cables and other
components – assuming the shielding is intact, of course.
• Skin effect is also a major factor in coaxial cable
attenuation and is a key reason why attenuation increases
as the frequency increases.
• But Why? The simple reason that AC travels at and near
the surface of a conductor is that alternating current
induces circulating eddy currents in the conductor. The
eddy currents essntially oppose current flow deeper
within the conductor, and support it at and near the
surface.
• Cause of skin effect: A main current I flowing through a
conductor induces a magnetic field H. If the current
increases, as in this figure, the resulting increase
in H induces separate, circulating eddy currents Iw which partially cancel the current
flow in the center and reinforce it near the skin.

• These materials can provide a conductor with less weight and greater tensile strength
than a pure alloy conductor. Copper-clad aluminum and copper-clad steel are

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commonly used in the broadband industry to reduce weight on utility poles and
infrastructure.

Equations for skin effect are given below:

Constants for skin effect Resistivity of conductor materials

𝜌 – resistivity of inner conductor (mW 1.7241 μΩ cm (copper, soft)
cm)
f – frequency (MHz) 1.7930 μΩ cm (copper, hard)
𝜇 – magnetic permeability of medium 2.8282 μΩ cm (aluminum)
(H/m)
𝛿 – skin effect or skin depth (in.) 1.6260 μΩ cm (silver)

11.052 μΩ cm (tin)

2.6525 μΩ cm (CCA)

8.2100 μΩ cm (CCS – 21%)

*
𝛿 = E(,×.×/×01! )F

Example for copper conductor

𝜌=1.7241
𝜇 = 4𝜋 × 10−7

f = 1000

* 0.5670
𝛿 = E(,×.×/×01! )F ≈ 𝛿 = E(7. × 0185×.×0111×01! )F

𝛿 = 2.09×10−6 or 2.09𝜇 m

Attenuation losses consist of two components: conductive losses and dielectric losses.
The conductive losses make up the larger portion of the total attenuation, but dielectric
losses still must be taken into consideration.

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
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Equations for attenuation are given below:

Constants for attenuation Values for example given

𝜌i – resistivity of inner conductor 1.7241 μΩ cm (copper, soft)
𝜌o – resistivity of outer conductor 2.8282 μΩ cm (aluminum)
f – frequency (MHz) 1000
𝜎 – dissipation factor 7 × 10−5
𝛼 – attenuation, total (dB/100 ft)
K – attenuation of conductors
L – attenuation of dielectric
Zo – characteristic impedance 75.0
Vp – velocity of propagation (%) 0.836 or 83.6%
Ic – inner conductor, diameter (in.) 0.0403
Oc – outer conductor, diameter (in.) 0.180

3296 K𝜌9 K𝜌' 3296 1.3130 1.6817

𝐾= ×J + O= ×' + )
𝑍' 𝐼& 𝑂& 75.0 0.0403 0.180

𝐾 = 0.184244

0.884 × 𝜋 × 𝜎 0.884 × 3.14159 × (7 × 108: )

𝐿= =
𝑉( 0.836

𝐿 = 0.00023

Total attenuation (dB/100 ft)

𝛼 = S𝐾 × K𝑓U + (𝐿 × 𝑓)

𝛼 = S0.184244 × √1000U + (0.00023 × 1000)

𝛼 = 6.06

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
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System Design of Coaxial Cable:

• Figure (9) below is a simplified application diagram of a coaxial cable system in long-
haul point-to-point multichannel telephone service.
• To summarize system operation, an FDM line frequency is applied to the coaxial cable
system via a line terminal unit.
• Dependent repeaters are spaced uniformly along the length of the cable system.
• These repeaters are fed power from the cable itself.

Figure (9): Simplified application diagram of along-haul coaxial cable system for
multichannel telephony.

• In the ITT design the dependent repeater has a plug-in automatic level control unit.
In temperate zones, where cable laying is sufficient and where diurnal and seasonal
temperature variations are within the "normal" (a seasonal swing of ± 10°C), a plug-
in level control (regulating) unit is incorporated in every fourth dependent amplifier
(see Figure (10) below).
• We use the word "dependent" for the dependent repeater for two reasons. It
depends on a terminal or main repeater for power and it provides to the terminal
or main repeater fault information.
• Let us examine the previous two Figures (9) & (10) at length.
• Assume that we are dealing with a nominal 12-MHz system on a 0.375-in. (9.5-mm)
cable. Up to 2700 voice channels can be transmitted.
• To accomplish this, two tubes are required, one in each direction. Most lay-ups, as
shown in Figure (6), have more than two tubes.
• Consider Figure (9) from left to right. Voice channels in afour-wire configuration
connect with the multiplex equipment in both the "go" and the "return" directions.
The output of the multiplex equipment is the line frequency (baseband) to be fed to
the cable.
• The line signal is fed to the terminal repeater, which performs the following functions:

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o Combines the line control pilots with the multiplex line frequency.
o Provides preemphasis to the transmitted signal, distorting the output
signal such that the higher frequencies get more gain than the lower
frequencies, as shown in Figure (8).
o Equalizes the incoming wideband signal.
o Feeds power to dependent repeaters.

Figure (10): Detail of application diagram. DA=dependent amplifier (repeater);

Reg.=regulation circuitry; d = distance between repeaters.

• The output of the terminal repeater is a preemphasized signal with required pilots
along with power feed.
• In the ITT design this is a dc voltage up to 650 V with a stabilized current of 110 mA.
• A main (terminal) repeater feeds, in this design, up to 15 dependent repeaters in each
direction. Thus a maximum of 30 dependent repeaters appear in a chain for every
main or terminal repeater.
• Other functions of a main repeater are to equalize the wideband signal and to provide
access for drop and insert of telephone channels by means of throughgroup filters.

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• Figure (10) is a blowup of a section of Figure (9) showing each fourth repeater with
its automatic level regulation circuitry.
• The distance d between DA repeaters is 4.5 km or 2.8 mi for a nominal 12-MHz
system (0.375-in. cable).
• Amplifiers have gain adjustments of ±6 dB, equivalent to varying repeater spacings of
±570 m (1870 ft).
• As can be seen from the above, the design of coaxial cable systems for both long- haul
multichannel telephone service as well as CATV systems has become, to a degree,
a"cookbook" design.
• Basically, system design involves the following:
•

o Repeater spacing as a function of cable type and bandwidth

o Regulation of signal level
o Temperature effects on regulation
o Equalization
o Cable impedance irregularities
o Fault location or the so-called supervision
o Power feed

• Other factors are, of course, the right-of-way for the cable route with access for
maintenance and the laying of the cable.
• With these factors in mind, Tables (2) and (3) review the basic parameters of the Bell
System approach (Table (2)) and the CCITT approach (Table (3)).

Table (2) Characteristic of L Coaxial Cable Systems

L System Identifier
Item L1 L3 L4 L5
Maximum design 4000 mi 1000 mi 4000 mi 4000 mi
line length
Number of 4-kHz 600 1860 3600 10,800 (L5E
FDM VF channels =13,200 VF
channels. )

TV NTSC Yes Yes plus No Not stated

Line frequency 60-2788 kHz 312-8284 kHz 564-17,548 kHz 1590-68,780
kHz
Nominal repeater 8 mi 4 mi 2 mi 1 mi
spacing
Power feed points 160 mi or 160 mi or 160 mi or every 75 mi or every
every 20 every 42 80 repeaters 75 repeaters
repeaters repeaters

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Notes:

1. Cable type of all L systems, 0.375 in.

2. Number of VF channles expressed per pair of tubes, one tube"go"and one tube "return."

Table (3) Characteristics of CCITT Specified Coaxial Cable Systems (Large Diameter Cable)

Nominal Top Modulation Frequency

Item 2.6 MHz 4 MHz 6 MHz 12 MHz 60 MHz
CCITT Rec. G.337A G.338 G.337B G.332 G.333
Repeater type Tube Tube Tube Transistor Transistor
Video No Yes Yes Yes Not stated
capability
Video+ FDM No No No Yes Not stated
capability
Nominal 6 mi/ 9 6 mi/ 9 km 6 mi/ 9 km 3 mi/ 4.5 km 1 mi/ 1.55
repeater km km
spscing
Main line reg. 2604 4092 kHz See CCITT 12,435 kHz 12,435/4287
pilot kHz Rec. J.72 kHz
Auxiliary reg. 308, 60 kHz See Rec. J.72 4287, 308 61, 160, 40,
pilot(s) kHz 920 and
22,372 kHz

Note: Cable type for all systems, 0.104/0.375

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COAXIAL REPEATER DESIGN—AN ECONOMIC TRADE-OFF FROM OPTIMUM

General

Consider a coaxial cable system 100 km long using 0.375-in, cable capable of transmitting up
to 2700 VF channels in an FDM/SSB configuration (12 MHz). At 12 MHz cable attenuation
per kilometer is approximately 8.3 dB (from Figure (8)). The total loss at 12 MHz for the 100-
km cable section is 8.3 X 100 =830 dB. Thus one approach the system design engineer might
take would be to install a 830-dB amplifier at the front end of the 100-km section. This
approach is rejected out of hand. Another approach would be to install a 415-dB amplifier at
the front end and another at the 50-km point. Suppose that the signal level was -15 dBm
composite at the originating end. Thus -15 dBm +415 dB =+400 dBm or +370 dBW.
Remember that +60 dBW is equivalent to 1MW; otherwise we would have an amplifier with
an output of 106 W or 103 MW. Still another approach is to have 10 amplifiers with 83-dB
gain, each spaced at 10-km intervals. Another would be 20 amplifiers or 830/20 =41.5 dB
each; or 30 amplifiers at 830/30 =27.67 dB, each spaced at 3.33-km intervals. As we shall
see later, the latter approach begins to reach an optimum from a noise standpoint, keeping
in mind that the upper limit for noise accumulation is 3 pWp/km. The gain most usually
encountered in coaxial cable amplifiers is 30-35 dB.

If we remain with the 3-pWp/km criterion, in nearly all cases radiolinks will be installed
because of their economic advantage. Assuming 10 full-duplex RF channels per radio system
at 1800 VF channels per RF channel, the radiolink can transmit 18,000 full-duplex channels,
and do it probably more cheaply on an installed cost basis. On the other hand, if we can show
noise accumulation less on coaxial cable systems, these systems will prove in at some
number of channels less than 18,000 if the reduced cumulative noise is included as an
economic factor. There are other considerations, such as maintenance and reliability, but let
us discuss noise further.

Suppose that we design our coaxial cable systems for no more than 1pWp/km. Most long-
haul coaxial cable systems being installed today meet this figure. However, we will use the
CCITT figure of 3 pWp/km in some of the examples that follow.

Noise for this discussion consists of two major components, namely,

• Thermal noise (white noise)

• Intermodulation noise (IM noise)

Coaxial cable amplifier design, to reach a goal of 1pWp/km of noise accumulation, must walk
a"tightrope" between thermal and IM noise. It is also very sensitive to overload with its
consequent impact on IM noise.

The purpose of the abbreviated and highly simplified discussion in this section is to give the
transmission system engineer some appreciation of coaxial repeater design.

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Thermal Noise

The thermal noise threshold, Pn may be calculated for an active two-port device as follows:

𝑃; = 10 log 𝐾𝑇 + 𝑁𝐹 + 10 log 𝐵<

𝑑𝐵𝑚
𝑃; = −174 + 𝑁𝐹 + 10 log 𝐵<
𝐻𝑧

Where,

𝐵< =bandwidth(Hz) and

NFdB = noise figure of the amplifier.

K = Botlzman’s constant

T = Room temperature = 290 K

Restating equation above for a voice channel with a nominal BW of 3000 Hz, we

can then have

Pn =-139 dBm +NF (dBm/3 kHz)

Assume a coaxial cable system with identical repeaters, each with gain Gr , spaced at equal
intervals along a uniform cable section. Here Gr exactly equals the loss of the intervening
cable between repeaters. The noise output of the first repeater is Pn + Gr (in dBm). For N
repeaters in cascade, the total noise (thermal) output of the Nth repeater is,

Pn + Gr + 10 log N (in dBm).

An important assumption all along is that the input-output impedance of the repeaters just
equals the cable impedance Zo .

Overload and Margin

The exercise of this section is to develop an expression for system noise and discuss methods
of reducing it. In the previous section we developed a term for the thermal noise for a string
of cascaded amplifiers (Pn + Gr + 10 log N). The next step is to establish 0 dBm as a reference,
or more realistically -2.5 dBmp, because we are dealing with avoice channel nominally 3kHz
wide and we want it weighted psophometrically .Now we can establish a formula for a total
thermal noise level as measured at the end of a coaxial cable system with N amplifiers in
cascade:

Pt= Pn + Gr + 10 log N - 2.5 dBmp

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As before we assume that all the amplifiers are identical and spaced at equal intervals and
that the gain of each is Gr,which is exactly equal to the loss of the intervening cable between
each amplifier.

Examining above equation we see that the operating level is high. The next step is to establish
an operating level that should never be exceeded and call it L. A margin to that level must
also be established to take into account instability of the amplifiers caused by aging effects,
poor maintenance, temperature variations, misalignment, and so forth. The margin to the
maximum operating level point is Mg. All units are in decibels. A more realistic equation can
now be written for total thermal noise including a suitable margin:

Pt= Pn + Gr + 10 log N - 2.5 dBmp + L + Mg

These levels are shown graphically in Figure (10). A number of interesting relationships can
be developed ifwe consider a hypothetical example. CCITT permits 3-pWp/km noise
accumulation (CCITT Rec. G.222). Allow 2 pWp of that figure to be attributed to thermal noise.
If we were to build asystem 100 km long, we could then accumulate 200 pWp of the thermal
noise. Now set 200 pWp equal to Pt in the previous equation. First convert 200 pWp to dBmp
(-67 dBmp). Thus

-67 dBmp = Pn + Gr + 10 log N - 2.5 dBmp + L + Mg

Pn + Gr + 10 logN + L + Mg = -64.5 dBmp

Figure (10): Graphic representation of reference level, signal levels, and noise levels in a coaxial cable system
(Note. levels are not drawn to scale.)

Let us assign some numbers to the equation which are somewhat reasonable. To the 100-km
system install 20 repeaters at equal intervals. Cable loss is 5dB/km, or 500 dB total loss at
the highest operating frequency. Thus repeater gain Gr is 25 dB, with N =20. Let:

L + M = 15 dB

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From the previous section:

Pn = -139 dBm + NF

Thus,

-139 + NF + 25 + 10 log20 + 15 = -64.5 dBmp

NF =21 dB or less

This is a noise figure (NF) that is fairly easy to meet.

Let us examine this exercise alittle more closely and see whether we cannot derive
some important relationships which can offer the system and amplifier design engineer
some useful guidance.

1. By doubling the length of the system, system noise increases 3dB, or by doubling the
number of amplifiers, Gr being held constant, system noise doubles (i.e., 10log2N).
2. By making the terms L and Mg smaller, or in other words, increasing the maximum
operating level, reducing the margin, system thermal noise improves on adecibel for
decibel basis.
3. Of course by reducing NF, system noise may also be reduced. But suppose that NF
turned out to be very small in the calculations, afigure that could not be met or would
imply excessive expense. Then we would have to turn to other terms in the equation,
such as reducing terms Gr,L, and M g.However, there is little room to maneuver with
the latter two, 15 dB in the example. That leaves us with Gr.Of course, reducing Gr is
at the cost of increasing the number of amplifiers (or increas- ing the size of the cable
to reduce attenuation, etc.). As we reduce Gr, the term 10 log N increases because we
are increasing the number of amplifiers N. The trade-off between the term 10 log N
and Gr occurs where Gr is between 8 and 9 dB.

Another interesting relationship is that of the attenuation of the cable. It will be noted that
the loss in the cable is approximately inversely proportional to the cable diameter. As an
example, let us assume that the loss of acable section between repeaters is 40 dB. By
increasing the cable diameter 25%, the loss of the cable section becomes 40/(1 +0.25) =32
dB. In our example above, by increasing the cable diameter, repeater gain may be decreased
with the consequent improvement in system noise (thermal). Note. The above examples are
given as exercises and may not necessarily be practicable owing to economic constraints.

Intermodulation Noise (IM Noise):

The second type of noise to be considered in coaxial cable system and repeater design
is IM noise. IM noise on a multichannel FDM system may be approximated by a Gaussian
distribution and consists of second; third; and higher order IM products. Included in these
products, in the wide-band systems we cover here, are second and third harmonics. IM
products (e.g., IM noise) are afunction of the nonlinearity of active devices. If a simple
sinusoid wave is introduced at the input port of a cable amplifier, the output of the amplifier

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could be expressed by an equation with three terms, the first of which is linear, representing
the desired amplification. The second and third terms are quadratic and cubic representing
the nonlinear behavior of the amplifier (i.e., second- and third-order products). On the basis
of this power series, for each 1-dB change of fundamental input to the amplifier, the second
harmonic changes 2 dB, and the third harmonic 3 dB. Further- more, for two waves A and B
asecond-order sum (A +B) or difference (A -B) is equivalent to the second harmonic of A at
the output plus 6dB. Likewise, the sum of A +B + C would be equivalent to the level of the
third harmonic at the output plus 15.6 dB of one of the waves. We consider that all inputs
are of equal level. The situation for 2A +B would be equivalent to 3A +9.6 dB, and so forth.
These last three power series may be more clearly expressed when set down as follows,
where PH is the harmonic IM power:

PH (A ±B) = PH(2A) + 6dB

𝑃=("±?±#) = 𝑃=(@") + 15.6 𝑑𝐵

𝑃=(6"±?) = 𝑃=(@") + 9.6 𝑑𝐵

Repeater Design:

For this discussion let IM2 and IM3 express the nonlinearity of a repeater; they are,
respectively, the power of the second and third harmonics corresponding to a 0 dBm
fundamental (-2.5 dBmp). Adjusted to the maximum operating level L (see Figure (10)), the
second harmonic power P2A, is

P2A =IM2 + 10logN + L (dBmp)

L is assumed to be positive as in our argument in the preceding section.

Now decrease the applied signal level to arepeater by L dB, assuming that the power
of the fundamental of awave at the 0 TLP (test level point) was L dBmp. It follows that, by
decreasing the applied power L dB so that the fundamental of a wave is now 0 dBmp at the
0 test level point (TLP), the magnitude of the fundamental is decreased L dB at the input of
the first amplifier.

For every decrease of 1dB in the fundamental, the second harmonic decreasesby 2 dB.
Therefore the new power of the second harmonic amplitude will be decreased by 2L dB, or

P2A = IM2 +10logN + L - 2L (for the system or second harmonic noise power level)
= IM2 + 10logN - L (dBmp)

which is the second harmonic noise power level. Let us consider the A+B product. For
fundamentals of equal magnitudes, such a product in a single repeater will be 6 dB higher
than a 2A product. It also varies by 2 dB per 1dB variation in both fundamentals and adds in
power addition as a function of the number of repeaters. Thus,

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P(A+B) =IM2 + 10 log N – L + 6 (dBmp)

Similarly for the 3A condition (e.g., third harmonic) of a wave fundamental A,

P3A = IM3 + 10 log N - 2L (dBmp)

For the A + B – C condition,

P(A+B-C) = IM3 + 20 log N - 2L + 15.6 (dBmp)

Again we find 2L because third-order products vary 3dB for every 1-dB change in the
fundamental. We use 20 log rather than 10 log, assuming that the products add in phase (i.e.,
voltage-wise) versus the number of repeaters. The 10 log term represented power addition.
For the 2A -B condition,

P2A-B = IM3 - 2L + 20 log N + 9.6 dBmp

Total Noise and Its Allocation

In summary there are three noise components to be considered:

• Thermal noise
• Second-order IM noise
• Third-order IM noise

Let us consider them two at atime. If asystem is thermal and second-order IM noise
limited, minimum noise is achieved allowing an equal contribution. For the 3-pWp/km case
we would assign 1.5 pW to each component.

For thermal and third-order IM noise limited systems, twice the contribution is
assigned to thermal noise as to third-order IM noise. Again for the 3-pWp case 2pWp is
assigned to thermal noise and 1pWp to third-order IM noise.

Expressed in decibels with Pt equal to total noise, the following table expresses
these relationships in another manner:

System Noise assigned

To thermal To IM
Thermal and second order limited Pt - 3 Pt - 3
Thermal and third order limited Pt – 1.8 Pt – 4.8
Overload limited Pt -

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Figure (11): All ocation of noise in a practical system. Accumulated noise over 4000 mi of t he North American L4
system. (Source: Bell Sys. Tech. .1, 830, Apr. 1969; Copyright © 1969 by American Telephone and Telegraph
Company.)

The parameter L is established such that these apportionments can be met by adjusting
repeater spacing and repeater design. As an example in practice, Figure (11) shows noise
allocation of the North American L4 system.

COAXIAL EQUALIZATION

Introduction

Consider the result of transmitting asignal down a12-MHz coaxial cable system with
the amplitude-frequency response shown in Figure (8). The noise per voice channel would
vary from an extremely low level for the channels assigned to the very lowest frequency
segments of the line frequency (baseband) to extremely high levels for those channels that
were assigned to the spectrum near 12 MHz. For long systems there would be every reason
to believe that these higher frequencies would be unusable if nothing was done to correct
the cable to make the amplitude response more uniform as afunction of frequency. Ideally
we would wish it to be linear.

Equalization of a cable deals with the means used to assure that the signal-to-noise
ratio in each FDM telephone channel is essentially the same no matter what its assignment
in the spectrum. In the following discussion we consider both fixed and adjustable equalizers.

Fixed Equalizers

The coaxial cable transmission system design engineer has three types of cable
equalization available which fall into the category of fixed equalizers:

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• Basic equalizer
• Line build-out (LBO) networks
• Design deviation equalizers

The basic equalizer is incorporated in every cable repeater. It is designed to compensate

for the variation of the loss frequency characteristic of uniform cable sections. This is done
by simply making the fixed gain proportional to the square root of frequency, matching the
loss for the nominal length. For the North American L4 system the gain characteristic is
shown in Figure (12). For the case of 12-MHz cable, the section nominal length would be 4.5
km (CCITT Rec. G.332).

The key word in the preceding paragraph is uniform. Unfortunately some cable sections
are not uniform in length. It is not economically feasible to build tailor-made repeaters for
each nonuniform section. This is what LBO networks are used for. Such devices are another
class of fixed equalizer for specific variations of nominal repeater spacing. One way of
handling such variations is to have available LBO equalizers for 5, 10, 15%, and so on, of the
nominal distance.

Figure (12): Repeater gain characteristic for North American L4 system.

The third type of equalizer compensates for design deviations of the nominal characteristics
which are standard for dependent repeaters and the actual loss characteristic of the cable
system in which the repeaters are to be installed. Such variations are systematic so that the
third level of equalization, the design devia- tion equalizer, is installed one for each 10, 15,
or 20 repeaters to compensate for gross design deviations over that group of repeaters.

Variable Equalizers

Figure (13) (a) shows the change of loss of cable as afunction of temperature varia-
tions, and Figure (13) (b) shows approximate earth temperature variations with time.
Adjustable equalizers are basically concerned with gain frequency variations with time.
Besides temperature, variations due to the aging of components may also be aproblem.
However, this is much less true with transistorized equipment. The cable loss per kilometer

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shown in Figure (8) is the loss at a mean temperature. The 3/8-in. cable used in the L system
application has amean variation of ±20°F from the nominal (+55°F) buried at a 4-ft depth in
the United States. At 20 MHz the loss due to temperature effects is about ±0.38 dB/mi, and it
is about ±0.67 dB/mi at 60 MHz (Ref. 2). This loss can be estimated at 0.11%/°F.

The primary purpose of automatic regulation is to compensate for the gain varia- tion
due to temperature changes. Such automatic regulation usually is controlled by apilot tone
at the highest cable frequency. For instance, in the ITT cable design for 12 MHz (Ref. 1),

The pilot controlled system will always apply exact compensation at the pilot
frequency of 12,435 kHz, an error may occur at other frequencies. On a single amplifier this
error is very small but will add systematically along the route. Such an error is usually
corrected by manually adjustable equalizers. In the North American L4 system (Ref. 5) the
regulation is controlled by a 11,648-kHz line pilot. The gain frequency characteristic is varied
to compensate for temperature-associated changes in the loss of aregulated section. Another
regulator is controlled by athennistor buried in the ground near the repeater to monitor
ground temperature. This latter regulator provides about half the temperature
compensation necessary.

The L4 system also uses additional repeaters called equalizing repeaters, which are spaced
up to 54 mi apart. The repeater includes six networks for adjusting the gain frequency
characteristics to mop up collective random deviations in the 54-mi section. The equalization
of the repeater is done remotely from manned stations while the system is operational.

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Figure (13): (a) Change in loss of 1 mi of 3/8-in. coaxial cable for ±20°F change in temperature. (b) Approximate
earth temperature variations with time at 4-ft depth. (Copyright 1970 by Bell Telephone Laboratories.)

COAXIAL LEVEL AND PILOT TONES

Intrasystem levels are fixed by cable and repeater system design. These are the L and
Mg established in previous section.

Modern 12-MHz systems display an overload point of +24 dBm or more.* Remember
that:

Overload point = equivalent peak power level + relative sending level + margin

The margin is Mg , as illustrated before, and L may be related to relative sending level. Mg can
be reduced, depending on how well system regulation is maintained. System pilots, among
other functions, provide ameans for AGC of some or all cable repeaters so as to compensate
(partially or entirely) for transmission loss deviations due to temperature effects on the
system and aging of active components (e.g., repeaters).

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Typically pilot levels are -10 dBm0. The level is acompromise, bearing in mind system
loading, to minimize the pilots' contribution to IM noise in asystem that is multichannel in
the frequency domain (FDM). Another factor tending to force the system designer to increase
the pilot level is the signal-to-noise ratio of the pilot tone required to effectively actuate level-
regulating circuitry. Pilot level adjustment at the injection point usually requires asettability
better than 0.1 dB. Internal pilot stability should display astability improved over the desired
cable system level stability. If the system level stability is to be ±1 dB, then the internal pilot
stability should be better than ±0.1 dB.

The number of system pilots assigned and their frequencies depend on bandwidth
and the specific system design. Commonly 12,435 kHz is used for regulation and 13.5 MHz
for supervisory in the L4 system. In the same system an auxiliary pilot is offered at 308 kHz
and, as an option, afrequency-comparison pilot at 300 kHz.

The only continuous in-band pilot in the L4 system is located at 11,648 kHz.
Supervisory pilot tones are transmitted in the band of 18.50-18.56 MHz. An L multiplex
synchronizing pilot is located at 512 kHz.

COAXIAL SUPERVISORY

The term supervisory in coaxial cable system terminology refers to a method of

remotely monitoring the repeater condition at some manned location. In the case of the L4
system, 16 pilot tones are brought up on command giving the status of 16 separate buried
repeaters.

The ITT method uses a common oscillator frequency (13.5 MHz) and relies on time
separation to establish the identity of each repeater being monitored. An interrogation signal
is injected at the terminal repeater or other manned station. At the first dependent repeater
the signal is filtered off and, after adelay, regenerated and passed on to the next repeater.
Simultaneously on the receipt of the regenerated pulse, a switch is closed, connecting a local
oscillator signal to the output of the repeater for ashort time interval. This local oscillator
pulse is transmitted back to the terminal or other manned station. The delay added at each
repeater is added to the natural delay of the intervening cable. This added delay allows for
alonger return pulse from each repeater, thereby simplifying circuitry. This same interrogat-
ing pulse, delayed, regenerated, and then passed on to the next repeater, carries on down the
line of dependent repeaters, causing returning "tone bursts" originating from successive
amplifiers along the cable route.

The tone burst response pulses are rectified and fed to acounter at the manned
station. The resulting count is compared with the expected count, and an alarm is indicated
if there is adiscrepancy. The faulty amplifier is identified automatically.

Table below gives basic operating parameters of the system. Such asystem can be
used for coaxial cable system segments up to 280 km in length.

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Table: Supervisory System Parameters (ITT)

Response oscillator frequency 13.5 MHz
Response oscillator level —20 dBm0
Response pulse duration 10 𝜇𝑠
Response pulse delay 250 𝜇𝑠
Interrogation pulse repetition rate 6/s
Interrogation pulse amplitude ~0.5 𝑉
Interrogation pulse rise time ~10 𝜇𝑠

POWERING THE COAXIAL SYSTEM

Power feeding of buried repeaters in the ITT system permits the operation of 15
dependent repeaters from each end of a feed point (12-MHz cable). Thus up to 30 dependent
repeaters can be supplied power between power feed points. A power feed unit at the power
feed point (see Figure (9)) provides up to 650-V dc voltage between center conductor and
ground, using 110-mA stabilized direct current. Power feed points may be as far apart as 140
km (87 mi) on large-diameter cable.

60-MHz COAXIAL CABLE SYSTEMS

Wideband coaxial cable systems are presently being implemented due to the ever-
increasing demand for long-haul toll quality telephone channels. Such systems are designed
to carry 10,800 FDM nominal 4-kHz VF channels. The line frequency configuration for such
a system, as recommended in CCITT Rec. G.333, is shown in Figure (14). To meet long-haul
noise objectives the large-diameter cable is recommended (e.g., 2.6/9.5 mm).

When expanding a coaxial cable system, a desirable objective is to use the same
repeater locations as with the old cable and add additional repeaters at intervening locations.
For instance, if we have 4.5-km spacing for a 12-MHz system and our design shows that we
need three times the number of repeaters for an equal-length 60-MHz system, then repeater
spacing should be at 1.5-km intervals.

The ITT 12-MHz system uses 4.65-km spacing. Thus its 60-MHz system will use 1.55-
km (0.95-mi) spacing with a mean cable temperature of 10°C. The attenuation characteristic
of the large-gauge cable is shown in Figure (15). This is an extension of Figure (8). (gauge:
refers to the thickness of the cable’s central conductor).
Repeater gain for the ITT system is nominally 28.5 dB at 60 MHz and can be varied
±1.5 dB. LBO networks allow still greater tolerance. The overload point, following CCITT Rec.
223, is taken at +20 dBm with atransmit level of-18 dBm.

The system pilot frequency is 61.160 MHz for regulation. A second pilot frequency of
4.287 MHz corrects the level of the lower frequency range. Pilot regulation repeaters are
installed at from 7 to 10 nonregulated repeaters, with deviation equalization at every
twenty-fourth repeater. All repeaters have temperature control (controlled by the buried
ambient).

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

Figure (14) Line frequency allocation recommended for 40- and 60-MHz systems on 2.6/ 9.5-mm coaxial cable
pairs. (a) Using plan 1. (b) Using plan 2. (From CCITT Rec. G.333.)

Figure (15): Attenuation of large-diameter coaxial cable (0.375in.).

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

Power feeding is planned at every 100 km (63 mi). Thus 64 repeaters will be fed
remotely using constant dc feed over the conductors. Each repeater will tap off about 15 V,
requiring 2 W. Thirty-two repeaters at 2X 15 V each will require 960 V. An additional 120 V
dc is required for pilot-regulated repeaters plus one repeater with deviation equalization.
Added to this is the 50-V IR drop on the cable.

The total feed voltage adds to 1226 V dc. Fault location is similar to that for the 12-MHz ITT
system. [For the ITT 60-MHz system.]

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

COAXIAL CABLE OR RADIOLINK—THE DECISION

General

One major decision that the transmission system engineer often faces is whether to
install on aparticular point-to-point circuit aradiolink or coaxial cable.

What are the factors that will determine the choice? Most obviously they fall into two
categories, technical and economic. Table 9.4 compares the two media from a technical
viewpoint. These comparisons can serve as afundamental guide for making atechnical
recommendation in the selection of afacility. System mixes may also be of interest. (Refer to
Chapter 5for adiscussion of radiolink engineering.)

Table: Comparison of Coaxial Cable Versus Radio Link

Item Cable Radio

Land acquisition Requires land easements or Repeater site acquisition
right-of-way along entire every 30-50 km with building,
route and recurring tower, access road at each site
maintenance access later
Insert and drop Insert and drop at any re- Insert and drop at more
peater.Shouldbekeptto widely spaced repeater sites
minimum. Land buys, building
required at each insert
location
Fading None aside from tempera- ture Important engineering pa-
variations rameter
Noiseaccumulation Less, 1pWp/km More, 3pWp/km
Radio frequency in- None A major consideration
terference (RFI)
Limitation on number None Strict, band-limited plus RFI
ofcarriers or basebands ambient limitations
transmitted
Repeater spacing 1.5, 4.5, 9km 30-50 km
Comparative cost of Considerably lower Considerably higher
repeaters
Power considerations High voltage de in milli- 48 V dc static no-break at each
ampere range site in ampere range
Cost versus traffic load Full load proves more eco- Less load proves more
nomical than radiolink economical than cable
Multiplex FDM-CCITT FDM-CCITT
Maintenance and Lower level, lower cost Higher level, higher cost
engineering
Terrain Important consideration in Can jump over, even take
cable laying advantage of difficult terrain

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

Land Acquisition as a Limitation to Coaxial Cable Systems

Acquisition of land detracts more from the attractiveness ofthe use ofcoaxial cable
than any other consideration; it adds equally to the attractiveness of selecting radio-links
(LOS microwave). With aradiolink system large land areas are jumped and the system
engineer is not concerned with what goes on between. One danger which many engineers
tend to overlook is that of the chance building of astructure in the path of the radio beam
after ingtallation on the routes has been completed.

Cable, on the other hand, must physically traverse the land area that intervenes. Access is
necessary after the cable is laid, particularly at repeater locations. This may not be as difficult
as it first appears. One method is to follow parallel to public highways, keeping the cable lay
on public land. Otherwise, with agood public rela- tions campaign, easement or rights-of-way
often are not hard to get.

This leads to another point. The radiolink relay sites are fenced. Cable lays are marked, but
the chances of damage by the farmer's plow or construction activity are fairly high with the
cable alternative.

Fading:

Radiolinks are susceptible to fading. Fades of 40 dB on long hops are not unknown.
Overbuilding aradiolink system tends to keep the effect of fades on system noise within
specified limits.

On coaxial cable systems signal level variation is mainly afunction oftemperature

variation. Level variations are well maintained by regulators controlled by pilot tones and,
in some cases, auxiliary regulators controlled by ground ambient.

Noise Accumulation

Noise accumulation has been discussed in pevious sections. Either system will serve
for long-haul backbone routes and meet the minimum specific noise criteria established by
CCITT/CCIR. However, in practice the engineering and installation of aradio system may
require more thought and care to meet those noise requirements. Modern coaxial cable
systems have adesign target of 1pWp/km ofnoise accumula- tion. Applying good design
techniques and using IF repeaters, radio systems can meet the 3-pWp criterion. Besides
fading, radiolinks, by definition, have more modulation steps and thus are noisier.

Group Delay— Attenuation Distortion

Group delay is less of aproblem with radiolinks. Figure (8) shows the amplitude
response of acable section before amplitude equalization. The cable plus amplifiers plus
amplitude equalizers add to the group delay problem.

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Gharyan University, Faculty of engineering, EECM515 , Eng. Asma Abdurahman
SS 2025

It should be noted that for video transmission on cable an additional modulation step is
required to translate the video to the higher frequencies and invert the band. While on
radiolinks, video can be transmitted directly without additional translation or inversion
besides RF modulation.

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)

There is no question as to the attractiveness of broadband buried coaxial cable

systems over equivalent radiolink systems when the area to be traversed by the
transmission medium is one of dense RFI. Usually these areas are built-up metro- politan
areas with high industrial/commercial activity. Unfortunately, as atransmis- sion route
enters adense RFI area, land values increase disproportionately, as do construction costs for
cable laying. Yet the trade-off is there.

Maximum VF Channel Capacity

In heavily populated areas of highly developed nations frequency assignments are

becoming severely limited or unavailable. Although some of the burden on assign- ment will
be removed as the tendency toward usage of the millimeter region of the spectrum is
increased, coaxial cable remains the most attractive of the two for high-density FDM
configurations.

If it is assumed that there are no RFI of frequency assignment problems, aradio- link
can accommodate up to eight carriers in each direction (CCIR Rec. 384-1) with 2700 VF
channels per carrier. Thus the maximum capacity of such asystem is 8X 2700 =21,600 VF
channels.

Assume a 12-MHz coaxial cable system with 22 tubes, 20 operative, that is, 10 "go"
and 10 "return." Each coaxial tube has acapacity of2700 channels. Thus the maximum
capacity is 10 X 2700 =27,000 VF channels.

It should be noted that the radio system with afull 2700 VF channels may suffer from
some multipath problems. Coaxial cable systems have no similar interference problems.
However, cable impedance must be controlled carefully when splicing cable sections. Such
splices usually are carried out at repeater locations.

Consider now 60-MHz cable systems with 20 active tubes, 10 "go" and 10 "return."
Assume a 10,000-channel capacity per tube; thus 10,000 X 10 = 100,000 VF chan- nels, or
the equivalent to five full radiolink systems.

Repeater Spacing

A high average for radiolink repeater spacing is 50 km (30 mi), depending on drop
and insert requirements as well as an economic trade-off between tower height and hop
distance. For coaxial cable systems, repeater separation depends on the highest frequency

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SS 2025

to be transmitted, ranging from 9.0 km for 4-MHz systems to 1.5 km for 60-MHz systems. A
radiolink repeater is much more complex than acable repeater.

Coaxial cable repeaters are much cheaper than radiolink repeaters, considering tower,
land, and access roads for radiolinks. However, much of this advantage for coaxial cables is
offset because radiolinks require many fewer repeaters. It also should be kept in mind that
a radiolink system is more adaptable to difficult terrain.

Power Considerations

The 12-MHz ITT coaxial cable system can have power feed points separated by as
much as 140 km (87 mi) using 650 V dc at 150 mA. In a140-km section of aradio-link route
at least four power feed points would be required, one at each repeater site. About 2 A is
required for each transmitter-receiver combination using standard 48 V dc battery, usually
with static no-break power. Power also will be required for tower lights and perhaps for
climatizing equipment enclosures.

Engineering and Maintenance

Cable systems are of "cook-book" design. Radiolink systems require a greater

engineering effort prior to and during installation. Likewise, the level ofmaintenance of radio
systems is higher than that for cable.

Multiplex Modulation Plans

Interworldng or tandem working of radio and coaxial cable systems is made easier
because both broadband media use the same standard CCITT or Lsystem modulation plans
(see Lecture 1 (FDM)).

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