What's the difference between "dB", "dBm", "dBi" and "dbc"

 Reference : http://www.dslreports.com/faq/14091

Other similar links :

http://zajark.blog.com/2011/04/24/db-dbi-dbd-dbc-dbm-dbw-interpretation/

http://www.hllye.com/news/antenna/what-is-dbidbddbdbmdbc.html



I keep seeing people using the terms "dB", "dBm", and "dBi" interchangeably, when they actually mean very different things. So, here's a little background on the correct usage of the terms. Sorry if this is covered in the FAQs and links, but from the posts here, I don't think people have read them thoroughly.

A dB is a RELATIVE measure of two different POWER levels. There's also dB relative to VOLTAGE levels, but I won't go into those, as we're mostly concerned with POWER levels in our discussions here. 3dB is twice (or half) as much, 6dB is four times, 10dB is ten times, and so on. The formula for calculating gain or loss in dB is: 10log P1/P2. It's used for stating the gain or loss of one device (P1) IN RELATION to another (P2). Thus, I can say that an amplifier has 30 dB of gain, or I have 6dB total feedline loss. I CANNOT say, My amp puts out 30 dB, or I have a 24dB antenna, as you must state what you're referencing it to, which is where the subscript comes in. The dB by itself is not an absolute number, but a ratio.

For amplifiers, a common reference unit is the dBm, with 0dBm being equal to 1 milliwatt. Thus, an amp with an output of 30dBm puts out 1 Watt. How much gain it has is a different matter entirely, and you can have two different amps, each with an output of 30dBm (1Watt), that have different gains, and require different levels of drive power to achieve their outputs. You can also have two different amps with the same gain that have different output powers.

There's also dBW (Referenced to 1 WATT), but you generally only use those when dealing with Big Stuff, as 30dBW is 1000w, and way beyond what we deal with here!

For antennas, a common reference unit is the dBi, which states the gain of an antenna as referenced to an ISOTROPIC source. An Isotropic source is the perfect omnidirectional radiator, a true Point Source, and does not exist in nature. It's useful for comparing antennas, as since its theoretical, its always the same. It's also 2.41 dB BIGGER than the next common unit of antenna gain, the dBd, and makes your antennas sound better in advertising. The dBd is the amount of gain an antenna has referenced to a DIPOLE antenna. A simple dipole antenna has a gain of 2.41dBi, and a gain of 0dBd, since we're comparing it to itself. If I say I have a 24dB antenna, it means nothing, as I haven't told you what I referenced it to. It could be a 26.41dBi antenna (24dBd), or a 21.59dBi (also 24dBd!) antenna, depending on what my original reference was. The difference is 4.81dB, a significant amount. Most antenna manufacturers have gotten away from playing this game, but the reference will be different in different fields.

Commercial antennas tend to be rated in dBi, as the people buying them understand it, and Amateur Radio antennas tend to be dBd, as Hams are very familiar with dipoles. Sorry to go on for so long, but as an Engineer, it bugs me a bit to see things like this!

Role of preamble in 802.11a packet

Conventional Packet Oriented Networks Like IEEE 802.11a Precede Each Data Transmission with a PHY Layer Preamble and Header



The
purposes of the PHY preamble are:
• Signal detection
• Antenna diversity selection
• Setting AGC
• Frequency offset estimation
• Timing synchronization
• Channel estimation

Note that the address of the intended recipient is not in the PHY preamble.It is actually in the packet data and is interpreted at the MAC layer.

Each packet is addressed to a single recipient.

However, the randomized backoff period of the CSMA multiplexing scheme is idle time and therefore represents an inefficiency. The PHY preamble is also network overhead and further reduces efficiency, particularly for shorter packets.

The typical real-world efficiency of an 802.11a system is approximately 50 percent. In other words, for a network with a nominal data rate of 54 Mbps, the typical throughput is about 25 – 30 Mbps. Some of the inefficiencies can be mitigated by abandoning the CSMA multiplexing scheme and adopting a scheduled approach to packet transmission. Indeed, subsequent versions of the 802.11 protocol include this feature. Inefficiencies due to dedicated ACK packets can also be reduced by acknowledging packets in groups rather than individually.

In spite of potential improvements, it remains difficult to drive packet-oriented network efficiency much beyond 65 to 70 percent.

Removing any row containing NaN in MATLAB

X(any(isnan(X),2),:) = [];

>> X = [ 1 2 3; 3 4 5; NaN 3 NaN]

X =

     1     2     3
     3     4     5
   NaN     3   NaN

>> X(any(isnan(X),2),:) = []

X =

     1     2     3
     3     4     5

One can make a function for it also

function X = exciseRows(X)
X(any(isnan(X),2),:) = [];