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    IEEE Standard Microwave Radar Bands: Frequency & Wavelength Specifications

    The microwave spectrum is usually defined as a range of frequencies ranging from 1 GHz to over 100 GHz. This range has been divided into a number of frequency bands, each represented by a letter. There are a number of organizations that assign these letter bands. The most common being the IEEE Radar Bands followed by NATO Radio Bands and ITU Bands.

     

    I.Frequency Bands

    Letter Designation

    Frequency Range

    Wavelength Range

    L Band

    1 to 2 GHz

    15 cm to 30 cm

    S Band

    2 to 4 GHz

    7.5 cm to 15 cm

    C Band

    4 to 8 GHz

    3.75 cm to 7.5 cm

    X Band

    8 to 12 GHz

    2.5 cm to 3.75 cm

    Ku Band

    12 to 18 GHz

    16.7 mm to 25 mm

    K Band

    18 to 26.5 GHz

    11.3 mm to 16.7 mm

    Ka Band

    26.5 to 40 GHz

    5.0 mm to 11.3 mm

    Q Band

    33 to 50 GHz

    6.0 mm to 9.0 mm

    U Band

    40 to 60 GHz

    5.0 mm to 7.5 mm

    V Band

    50 to 75 GHz

    4.0 mm to 6.0 mm

    W Band

    75 to 110 GHz

    2.7 mm to 4.0 mm

    F Band

    90 to 110 GHz

    2.1 mm to 3.3 mm

    D Band

    110 to 170 GHz

    1.8 mm to 2.7 mm


    II. Expansion on Typical Applications of Each Frequency Band 

    • L Band: Mobile communication base stations, GPS/Beidou satellite navigation systems, long-range early warning radars. It features long wavelengths with strong penetration capability and low propagation loss.

    • S Band: Weather radars, air traffic control radars for civil aviation, some legacy WiFi frequency bands, and satellite communications. It strikes a good balance between transmission range and bandwidth.

    • C Band: Downlink transmission for satellite television, terrestrial microwave trunk communication, and some meteorological radars. It delivers better rain fade resistance than higher frequency bands.

    • X Band: Military fire-control radars, airborne radars and marine navigation radars. It offers high ranging precision and is widely used for target detection and missile guidance.

    • Ku / Ka Band: High-throughput communication satellites (satellite internet services), vehicle-mounted satellite antennas and millimeter-wave radars. The Ka band supports much wider bandwidth, yet its signals suffer significant attenuation caused by rainfall.

    • V / W Band: Millimeter-wave security imaging, automotive self-driving radars, short-range high-speed wireless communications (one candidate spectrum for 6G). These bands provide extremely large bandwidth but come with shorter transmission distance and severe atmospheric signal attenuation.

    • Higher F / D Band: Cutting-edge research in terahertz communication and high-precision security scanning imaging. They are key research priorities for future ultra-high-speed wireless communication technologies.