Microwave Communication Technology

Communications represent the largest microwave market segment, worldwide. Analog terrestrial microwave links carry more than half of the long-distance communications in the U.S. and in most other countries. Growing and diversifying applications led to spectrum crowding, which demanded better spectrum utilization. This is being implemented in two ways: (1) through improvements in the spectrum efficiency, i.e., by increasing the transmission capacity within a given channel bandwidth, and (2) through spectrum sharing between different transmission systems (e.g., terrestrial and satellite). The advent of digital microwave transmission introduced additional elements of complexity. Under these circumstances, the microwave industry faces unprecedented challenges in the development and manufacture of communications equipment, components and devices. The talk is intended to concentrate on technological developments in response to the prevailing operational requirements and competitive pressures.