In this post we explain how to convert from Data throughput in terms of Megabits per second to Bandwidth in Gigahertz (GHz).
Formula
To calculate the bandwidth we use the Shannon-Hartley formula
B = C/(Log2(1 + S/N))
where,
- B is the bandwidth in Hz
- C is the throughput in bits per second
- S/N is the signal-to-noise ratio
Calculator
In the calculator below, enter the bandwidth and the SNR (dB)
Example Calculation
In order to sustain a throughput level of 10,000 Mbps at Signal-to-Noise Ratio of 3 dB, a bandwidth of 6.3 GHz is required.
As the SNR increases the bandwidth requirement decreases
For instance, for the same throughput if the SNR is 10 dB, the bandwidth required drops to 2.9 GHz.
???? An increase in SNR is consistent with better signal quality. At higher dB levels the communication system can sustain higher order modulations which means more bits can be packed into the same bandwidth and transmitted with fewer errors.
Practically however SNR is limited by
- The amount of power that can be transmitted
- Receiver Noise Floor or Sensitivity
- The environment
- Frequency of operation
and more…
Use the Antenna Coverage Distance calculator to understand the effect of antenna gain, distance and RF losses impact the distance that can be covered in a communication system
Use the Receiver sensitivity calculator to find the minimum detectable signal
Related Calculators
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio
- Mbps to GB – how many gigabytes of data are transferred for a user specified throughput and time interval?
- Mbps to kbps – should you multiply by 1000 or 1024?
- Mbps to MHz
- What’s the difference between Megabit per second and Megabyte per second?
References
[1] Shannon Hartley Theorem on Wikipedia