Radio Engineering RSS

  The new Wray Castle Hub gives you unlimited access to a comprehensive library of material covering key technology and business topics within the telecoms industry.   The Wray Castle Hub builds your knowledge, empowers your professional development, and includes access to new courses that will cover the latest technology developments throughout your subscription. Endlessly flexible and applicable to any role within the telecoms industry a subscription to Wray Castle Hub is your ultimate learning resource. You can choose to follow one of our suggested learning pathways, build your own or dip into the learning material module by module. Learn more. What courses are included...

We are pleased to announce that the new Applied Telecoms Engineering and Critical Communications and Infrastructure Programmes have has achieved City & Guilds Assured Status. Assured status provides validation and recognition for the learner, it's a symbol of learning excellence and quality and is a reassurance that the training undertaken meets best practice standards. Each programme features guided learning pathways combining foundation courses designed to give learners a thorough understanding of the telecoms industry. The specialist learning tracks aim to equip learners with the necessary expertise to excel in their chosen field. Applied Telecoms Engineering Programme The Applied Telecoms Engineering Programme provides individuals working...

Radio communications impact nearly every aspect of our lives, whether it’s watching TV, using a mobile, or using Wi-Fi. If you’re embarking on a career in telecommunications an in-depth understanding, becomes critical. We have full portfolio of radio engineering courses, from 1 day introductions for those with no technical background, to 3-day technical deep dives. Wondering how good your radio engineering knowledge is or which is the best radio engineering course for you? Have a quick look at these questions from our Radio Principles course and see how you do... Are you able to describe the nature of a radio wave?The Wray Castle...

Recorded: 25th April The recording of the Beamforming and Massive MIMO - Enabling 5G webinar  is now available on Wray Castle Connect (Free Membership Required), you can view the recording here. 5G enables access to higher frequency spectrum than previous generations. In order to efficiently use that high frequency spectrum [and put very simply], antenna size needs to be smaller, and we need to use more of them. This in turn means that massive antenna arrays are a key component of 5G deployment - where lots of antennas are used in a very organised way to focus energy and drive...

Recorded: 23rd March 2023 Webinar recording of Radio Propagation Mechanisms Explained is now available on Wray Castle Connect (Free Membership Required), you can view the recording here. The aim of this Webinar is to explain the range of factors that impact the way radio waves propagate and therefore impact radio connectivity and coverage in fixed and mobile radio systems. The session commences with a look at how variations in atmospheric conditions will affect the trajectory of radio signals – the process of refraction.  The natural phenomena of diffraction, reflection, and absorption will then be described, finishing with an explanation of fast and...

Our mission at Wray Castle we empower the global telecoms world by developing the specialist knowledge, skills and competencies organisations need to build, maintain, optimise and operate the cutting-edge communications networks of today and tomorrow. As part of that commitment and to support professionals across the industry and encourage lifelong learning, we’ve launched Wray Castle Connect, the new networking hub for telecoms professionals. Wray Castle Connect provides its members with regular blogs, recorded training content, and a range of programs and events, offering various activities to engage and educate. Wray Castle Connect is a welcoming place with an open door...

3GPP Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) | 17th November 2022  Join Les Granfield on 17th November (10-11am UK time) for this live training webinar looking at 3GPP Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) (17 Nov) This webinar looks at how 3GPP propose to use the 5G New Radio (NR) to provide 5G cellular coverage in hard-to-reach locations such as ships at sea, airborne aircraft, trains and remote geographical locations using non-terrestrial flying objects.   The flying objects are more commonly known as satellites but the NTN will also include High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS), Air-to-Ground Systems as well as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS).  Topics include: Competing commercial satellite systems...

Recorded 13th September 2022 The energy and utility sectors are going through a time of unprecedented change, driven largely by the drive for “net zero” and “smart grids”.  A shift towards renewable and more localised energy sources, coupled to a greater reliance on digital technology and automation, has transformed these industries. The sector is now actively envisioning how new wireless broadband communications technologies, and the cloud, can help them harness the power of the growing wave of connected devices and data. These technologies will replace traditional narrowband telemetry, tele-control and tele-protection systems, and enable utilities to move increased volumes of data...

The design of a national spectrum policy requires a significant amount of planning.Every regulator has to interact with international, regional, national and local agencies and users when embarking upon the design of a national spectrum policy.Current spectrum useIt is imperative that the national spectrum regulatory body establishes a database of the current use and users of the national spectrum resource. There will be a range of bodies which have access to information regarding their own use of spectrum. Such bodies will be the defence forces, police forces, broadcasters, telecommunications service providers etc. All of this information should be input to...

The high level architecture of O-RAN includes three main areas: the Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework, O-RAN Functions and the O-Cloud.The SMO is a collection of a variety of management services and provides a range of network management functions. The management functions may go beyond that of the RAN, but may include Core Management, Transport Management and End to End Slice Management. But in terms of RAN management the key operations include: support of the O1 interface to the O-RAN Network functions, the Non-Real Time RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) for RAN optimization and O-Cloud management orchestration/workflow management.The O-RAN Network...

Recorded: 31st March 2022 Join Les Granfield on Thursday 31st March (10-11am UK time) for this live training webinar looking at Open Radio Access Networks (ORAN) This webinar aims to de-mystify the world of Open Radio Access Networks (ORAN).  It will provide a meaning for the acronyms associated with the technology.  It will explain the need for open radio access networks, the key players and the associated technologies.  Topics include: Acronyms and abbreviations Radio access networks to date Why the need for open radio access networks Disaggregation Virtualized RAN Open RAN Cloud RAN 3GPP xRAN Cisco TIP O-RAN Small Cell Forum 3GPP Split Architecture O-RAN Architecture TIP Whitebox...

Watch the recoding of our recent live webinar were we introduced the Certificate & Diploma in Telecoms training programmes and learn how you can become a certified expert in Cellular Radio Engineering, Core Network Engineering, LTE or 5G Engineering. During the session we'll introduce you to the Certificate & Diploma in Telecoms, how the programme is structured, who its designed for, how you'll learn as well as an overview of the specialist learning pathways. You can view the recorded webinar below You can lean more and register for the certified training courses here:

When planning a microwave link it is imperative to ensure there is sufficient clearance between the main bore of the radio signal and any obstacles along the radio path. There are various rules and guidelines defining what is meant by sufficient clearance - they may be set by a national spectrum management authority, in-house criteria, or recommended by a body such as the ITU-R. All of them, however, require the radio planner to apply the relevant k factor associated with the chosen clearance criteria and model. It is therefore paramount that the radio planner fully understands the function of the...

Where are we now? Initial 5G deployments are referred to as “Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G” and based on Dual Connectivity. This is where the device connects to a 4G “Master” LTE base station first, and then, under the direction of the master, establishes 5G connectivity. These early 5G deployments use spectrum in Frequency Range 1 of 5G. In Europe, this is likely to be in the band 3.4-3.8 GHz (but not exclusively). In terms of coverage, the 5G cells that can be supported at these frequencies within towns and cities, allow 5G “secondary” base stations to be co-located with the 4G...

The C-RAN (Centralised or Cloud Radio Access Network) is a cellular network architecture designed for efficiency and lower costs when deploying public access small cells. The C-RAN architecture separates the BBU (Base Band Unit) from the RRH (Remote Radio Head) using the CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface). The CPRI link between the BBU and the RRH is known as the ‘fronthaul’ whereas the backhaul network connects the BBU with the core network. The BBU is responsible for the signal processing functions and the RRH transmits the signal over the radio interface. Placing BBUs at central locations enables more precise control...

Modern cellular networks support a concept known as the heterogeneous network – the term ‘heterogeneous’ is generically defined as meaning ‘diverse in character or content’ and that is the sense in which it is employed here. These networks utilize various access technologies such as macro cells, small cells, Wi-Fi, LTE, LTE-Advanced, and WLAN to provide seamless connectivity. A HetNet is one in which many base stations, of varying types and sizes, share the same radio resource environment to provide a multi-layered or hierarchical service consisting of network of macro cells and small cells which can offer ‘multi-mode’ (a mixture of...