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MEASUREMENT UNITS

DECIBLES AND POWER RATIOS

THE COMMON UNIT OF MEASURE OF POWER AMPLIFICATION OR ATTENUATION THE DECIBEL IS A LOGARTHMIC UNIT FOR EXPRESSING A POWER RATIO

POWER RATIOS
THE POWER RATIO IS ALWAYS POWER OUT PUT DIVIDED BY POWER INPUT: Pout/Pin or P2/P1 POWER INPUT IS THE ENERGY APPLIED TO A CIRCUIT AND IS REFERRED TO AS P1 OR Pin
POWER OUT IS THE RESULT OF THE CIRCUIT OPERATION IN TERMS OF GAIN OR LOSS, IT IS REFERRED TO AS P2 OR Pout

DECIBELS EXPRESS POWER RATIO

The power ratio expressed in bels is equal to the log (to the base 10) of the power ratio PR (bels) = log PR Because 10 decibels equal 1 bel, the power ratio in decibel is Power ratio (db) = 10 log Power Out/Power In

 In actual practice, the formula may be found in various forms. For example PR(db) may be reduced to db or DB.

In basic formula there are three variables : dB, P2 and P1. If any two are known third may be found

WHY DECIBLES
Smaller and easier to manipulate; addition and subtraction By using logs and dBs, the computations to find gain or loss is greatly simplified for example
1 WATT IN PUT X 32 X 64 X 25 X 12.5 X 16

6400000W OUT PUT

(15.1 db)

(16.0 dB)

(14.0 dB)

(11.0 dB)

(12.0 d B)

15.1 + 16.0 + 14.0 + 11.0 + 12.0

= 68.1 dB

Review Fundamental Concepts

linear value (ratio) 1 2 4 10 100 0.5 0.1 log value (dB) 0 3 6 10 20 -3 -10

Review Fundamental Concepts

Positive dB represents GAIN Negative dB represents LOSS Example: -3dB represents a loss of 50% power Example: +3dB represents a gain of 100% power Decibels cannot be used to represent actual power but only the ratio of one power to an other

The dBm
The dBm was developed to represent actual power, not a power ratio The dBm is a coined term used to represent power level above or below one milli watt Thus dBm indicates an arbitrary power level with a base of one milli watt
Power dBm = 10 log actual power(mW)/ 1 mW

POWER REPRESENTATION
Absolute Power: a ratio in decibel (dB), referred to a reference value o dBW = 10 log P/1W Taken with respect to 1W o dBm = 10 log P/1mW Taken with respect to 1mW o dB = 10 log P/1W Taken with respect to 1W

Example
Express 3000W in dBW, dBm and dBW ? In dBW, In dBm, In dBW, 10 log3000W/1W = 34.77dBW 10 log3000W/1mW = 64.77dBm 10 log3000W/1W = 94.77dBW

Example
Express 2W in dBm ? Step 1: 1W = 1000mW In dBm, 10 log1000mW/1mW = 30dBm Step 2: 30dBm + 3dB = 33dBm Note: Power level increases by a factor of 2 = 3dB 1W x 2 = 2W

VOLTAGE RATIOS

Since voltage squared is proportional to power , the log of the voltage is multiplied by two (20 log instead of 10)
dB = 20 log E out/E in

Example
Input = 2.5 mV out put = 3600mV

Gain in dB = ? dB = 20 log E out/E in = 20 log 3600 mV/ 2.5 mV = 20 log (1440) = 63.167 db

QUESTIONS