IEEE frequency bands

The Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) has defined as standard IEEE Standard 521-1984, a system of IEEE frequency bands for electromagnetic frequencies used for radio and radar. There is no question that the names of the bands are confusing, and the history is obscure.

The terminology is used widely for radar, especially in civilian systems. The EU-NATO-US frequency bands for a nomenclature that works well in fine-grained radar band discussion, especially in electronic warfare.

The IEEE system is widely used, but lacks some fine granularity needed for discussing detailed radar examples, and only starts at 1 GHz; the designations below for the lower frequencies come from ITU frequency bands. The ITU designations are more useful when discussing radio.

Frequency range	Wavelength	IEEE band
300KHz-3 MHz	1 km to 100 meters	MF
3-30 MHz	100 meters to 10 meters	HF
30-300 MHz	10 meters to 1 meter	VHF
300 MHz -3 GHz*	1 meter to 10 cm	UHF
1-2 GHz	30 cm to 15 cm	L band
2-4 GHz	15 cm to 5 cm	S band
4-8 GHz	5 cm to 3.75 cm	C band
8-12 GHz	3.75 cm to 2.5 cm	X band
12-18 GHz	2.5 cm to 1.6 cm	Ku band
18-26 GHz	1.6 cm to 1.2 cm	K band
26-40 GHz	1.6 cm to 750 mm	Ka band
40-75 GHz	750 mm to 40 mm	V band
75 to 111 GHz	40 mm to 28mm	W band
Above 111 GHz	"millimeter wave"

Millimeter wave frequencies begin at 18 GHz, with the K band and extend into the W band.