What is RF?
We will understand here RF,its applications,frequency bands and radio frequency allocations by FCC. RF is the short form of radio frequency. RF is used in wireless communications of every kind. The medium of communication is popularly called as RF wave similar to cable for wired communication. Let us understand what RF wave is? It is all around us when we use cell phone, when we use Bluetooth device, when we use remote control, when we watch TV, when we listen radio, when we microwave oven. It has many applications and day by day it is increasing.
The unit of radio frequency is Hertz (Hz) i.e. no of oscillations or cycles per second. There is one more term which is often used interchangeably to mention RF and is called 'wavelength'. The relationship between wavelength and radio frequency is mentioned below.
Wavelength = C/Frequency,
Where C is the speed of light and is 3 x 10^8 meter/second.
Radio frequency is allocated and administered by FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and many such frequencies will form electromagnetic spectrum. This spectrum is labeled with different names as below.
| Designation | Frequency Range |
| Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) | 3-30Hz |
| Super Low Frequency (SLF) | 30-300Hz |
| Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) | 300-3000Hz |
| Very Low Frequency (VLF) | 3-30 KHz |
| Low Frequency (LF) | 30-300 KHz |
| Medium Frequency (MF) | 300KHz-3 MHz |
| High Frequency (HF) | 3-30 MHz |
| Very High Frequency (VHF) | 30 MHz-300 MHz |
| Ultra High Frequency (UHF) | 300 MHz-3 GHz |
| Super High Frequency (SHF) | 3-30 GHz |
| Extremely High Frequency (EHF) | 30-300 GHz |
Note: 1000 Hz = 1 KHz, 1000 KHz = 1 MHz, 1000 MHz =1 GHz
The device which receives and transmits this radio frequency (RF) is called as antenna which everyone is familiar. There are different antennas designed to transmit and receive different RF frequencies as mentioned in the table.
RF in Medical
RF is also used in medical field, as RF energy can penetrate the body and be absorbed in deep body organs without any heat sensation, making it virtually painless and potentially speeding patient recovery. Among its uses are vision correction, Liver cancer treatment, sleep Apnea, Snoring, cosmetic surgery, Tightening Loose Joints and more. Refer Wireless Body Area Network tutorial >>.
RF Calculators
Following table provides links to useful RF converters and calculators. It include aggregate noise figure calculator, circular waveguide lowest cutoff frequency frequency calculator, dBm to dBW converter, dBm to Watt converter, Watt to dBm converter, microstrip line impedance calculator, PI attenuator resistance value calculator, Power Divider output port value calculator, rectangular waveguide cut off frequency calculator, return loss to VSWR converter, Skin depth calculator, Strip line impedance calculator, T attenuator resitances calculator, RF Exposure calculator, RF Field Strength, RF Transformer calculator, TEM wavelength calculator, waveguide breakdown power, planar resistance calculator, interdigital capacitance, spiral inductance calculator, circular and rectangular cavity resonator calculators, plane wave calculator, reflex klystron calculator, slotline calculator, magnetron, reflection coefficient, Time Domain Reflectometry length, TWT, Tunnel diode, varactor diode calculator, Directional Coupler, MDS, ppm to Hz, SFDR, MTBF, MTTF, rain absorption temperature, antenna elevation, antenna azimuth, AM-PM conversion, power unit converter, RF phase noise to jitter converter, ACPR, Cascaded PAE, RF Amplifier PAE, Twin wire line impedance calculator,ADC SINAD to ENOB and SNR to resolution converter etc. Refer RF Calculators >> and Wireless Calculators >> for more information.
This page explains what is RF and also provides RF frequency table with various ranges and covers its applications.
RF RELATED LINKS
RF Component vendors RF FAQs RF frequency Converter design RF filter design Production testing on RF devices Types of RF Connectors RF Transceiver design and development RF signal generation and analysis Design of satellite modem RF Site Survey Tools RF Energy Harvesting RF Capture Technology RF Measurements Tutorial RF Mixer Tutorial
RF Terms
RF Terminology RF jammer RF choke RF welding RF interference RF radiation RF remote RF shielding RF skin tightening
What is?
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