Radio frequency (RF) is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals. RF usually refers to electrical rather than mechanical oscillations; however, mechanical RF systems do exist (see mechanical filter and RF MEMS).
Although radio frequency is a rate of oscillation, the term "radio frequency" or its acronym "RF" are also used as a synonym for radio – i.e. to describe the use of wireless communication, as opposed to communication via electric wires. Examples include:
Special properties of RF current
Electric currents that oscillate at radio frequencies have special properties not shared by direct current or alternating current of lower frequencies.
- The energy in an RF current can radiate off a conductor into space as electromagnetic waves (radio waves); this is the basis of radio technology.
- RF current does not penetrate deeply into electrical conductors but tends to flow along their surfaces; this is known as the skin effect. For this reason, when the human body comes in contact with high power RF currents it can cause superficial but serious burns called RF burns.
- RF currents applied to the body often do not cause the painful sensation of electric shock as do lower frequency currents.[2][3] This is because the current changes direction too quickly to trigger depolarization of nerve membranes.
- RF current can easily ionize air, creating a conductive path through it. This property is exploited by "high frequency" units used in electric arc welding, which use currents at higher frequencies than power distribution uses.
- Another property is the ability to appear to flow through paths that contain insulating material, like the dielectric insulator of a capacitor.
- When conducted by an ordinary electric cable, RF current has a tendency to reflect from discontinuities in the cable such as connectors and travel back down the cable toward the source, causing a condition called standing waves, so RF current must be carried by specialized types of cable called transmission line.
Radio communication
In order to receive radio signals an antenna must be used. However, since the antenna will pick up thousands of radio signals at a time, a radio tuner is necessary to tune in to a particular frequency (or frequency range).[4] This is typically done via a resonator – in its simplest form, a circuit with a capacitor and an inductor forming a tuned circuit. The resonator amplifies oscillations within a particular frequency band, while reducing oscillations at other frequencies outside the band.
Frequencies
Main article: Radio spectrum
Frequency | Wavelength | Designation | Abbreviation[5] |
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3 – 30 Hz | 104 – 105 km | Extremely low frequency | ELF |
30 – 300 Hz | 103 – 104 km | Super low frequency | SLF |
300 – 3000 Hz | 100 – 103 km | Ultra low frequency | ULF |
3 – 30 kHz | 10 – 100 km | Very low frequency | VLF |
30 – 300 kHz | 1 – 10 km | Low frequency | LF |
300 kHz – 3 MHz | 100 m – 1 km | Medium frequency | MF |
3 – 30 MHz | 10 – 100 m | High frequency | HF |
30 – 300 MHz | 1 – 10 m | Very high frequency | VHF |
300 MHz – 3 GHz | 10 cm – 1 m | Ultra high frequency | UHF |
3 – 30 GHz | 1 – 10 cm | Super high frequency | SHF |
30 – 300 GHz | 1 mm – 1 cm | Extremely high frequency | EHF |
300 GHz - 3000 GHz | 0.1 mm - 1 mm | Tremendously high frequency | THF |
The inverse relation between frequency and wavelength deduces that the higher the frequency of the RF Signal, the smaller its wavelength and vice versa. Thus, under similar conditions of propagation, the higher frequency signal attenuates faster than the lower frequency signal and becomes too weak to be detected at the end of the receiver, located at larger distances. An RF power amplifier is used to amplify the power level of such a transmitter RF Signal, so that, it can travel up to larger distances with lesser attenuation.
In medicine
Radio frequency (RF) energy has been used in medical treatments for over 75 years,[6] generally for minimally invasive surgeries, using radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation, including the treatment of sleep apnea.[7] Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses radio frequency waves to generate images of the human body.
See also
- Amplitude modulation
- Bandstacked
- Electromagnetic radiation
- Frequency allocation
- Frequency bandwidth
- Frequency modulation
- Plastic welding
- Radio waves
- RF connector
- RuBee
- Spectrum management
References
External links
Radio spectrum |
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| ELF 3 Hz/100 Mm 30 Hz/10 Mm | SLF 30 Hz/10 Mm 300 Hz/1 Mm | ULF 300 Hz/1 Mm 3 kHz/100 km | VLF 3 kHz/100 km 30 kHz/10 km | LF 30 kHz/10 km 300 kHz/1 km | MF 300 kHz/1 km 3 MHz/100 m | | VHF 30 MHz/10 m 300 MHz/1 m | UHF 300 MHz/1 m 3 GHz/100 mm | SHF 3 GHz/100 mm 30 GHz/10 mm | EHF 30 GHz/10 mm 300 GHz/1 mm | THF 300 GHz/1 mm 3 THz/0.1 mm |
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| ← higher frequencies & nbsp;longer wavelengths →
| | Visible (optical) | - Violet
- Blue
- Green
- Yellow
- Orange
- Red
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| Microwaves | - W band
- V band
- Q band
- Ka band
- K band
- Ku band
- X band
- S band
- C band
- L band
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| Radio | - EHF
- SHF
- UHF
- VHF
- HF
- MF
- LF
- VLF
- ULF
- SLF
- ELF
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| Wavelength types | |
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| Systems | |
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| Color systems | |
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| Video | - Back porch and front porch
- Black level
- Blanking level
- Chrominance
- Chrominance subcarrier
- Colorburst
- Color killer
- Color TV
- Composite video
- Frame (video)
- Horizontal scan rate
- Horizontal blanking interval
- Luma
- Nominal analogue blanking
- Overscan
- Raster scan
- Safe area
- Television lines
- Vertical blanking interval
- White clipper
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| Sound | - Multichannel television sound
- NICAM
- Sound-in-Syncs
- Zweikanalton
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| Modulation | |
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| Transmission | - Amplifiers
- Antenna (radio)
- Broadcast transmitter/Transmitter station
- Cavity amplifier
- Differential gain
- Differential phase
- Diplexer
- Dipole antenna
- Dummy load
- Frequency mixer
- Intercarrier method
- Intermediate frequency
- Output power of an analog TV transmitter
- Pre-emphasis
- Residual carrier
- Split sound system
- Superheterodyne transmitter
- Television receive-only
- Television transmitter
- Terrestrial television
- Transposer
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| Frequencies & Bands | - Frequency offset
- Microwave transmission
- Television channel frequencies
- UHF
- VHF
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| Propagation | - Beam tilt
- Distortion
- Earth bulge
- Field strength in free space
- Knife-edge effect
- Noise (electronics)
- Null fill
- Path loss
- Radiation pattern
- Skew
- Television interference
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| Testing | - Distortionmeter
- Field strength meter
- Vectorscope
- VIT signals
- Zero reference pulse
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| Artifacts | - Dot crawl
- Ghosting
- Hanover bars
- Sparklies
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