C

T
R

ENTRE for

ELECOMMUNICATIONS

ESEARCH

INTRODUCTION TO THE MOBILE RADIO

CHANNEL
Dr Fatin Said
Centre for Telecommunication Research
East Wing, Room F4A
Kings College London
http://www.ctr.kcl.ac.uk/members/said.htm

Communication Principle
Acoustic
Communications

Satellite
Communications
Satellite

Satellite dish

Computer
Communications

Cellular
Communications
Microwave tower

Most Modern communications systems share similar basic principles as all

other communication techniques that already exists in nature.
Our own communication ability, mainly voice and hearing, is subject to the
same basic law as are an advance satellite system, computer communications
and cellular mobile communication systems. That is the propagation medium
in which the message is transmitted through, known as Communication
Channel, will distort the transmitted message. The level of distortion would
ultimately determine the performance and effectiveness of a given systems.

Communication Channels
air pressure

EMW ( slant-path )
Satellite

Satellite dish

optical/coaxial

EMW ( terrestrial )
Microwave tower

Regardless of the means by which a message is transmitted, propagated and

received, a communication channel will introduce distortion and degradation
into the transmitted message. The most common form of distortion is
Additive Noise. In any communication system, the presence of noise usually
limits the rate of message transfer, and the range of which a message can be
transmitted successfully. In the absence of noise, infinite range and rate can
be achieved !!
Noise is always present in a communication system. For example, the noise
limiting the sensitivity of an electronic receiver, known as thermal noise, is as
a result of the operating temperature of the ohmic part of the receiver and the
signaling bandwidth. The available thermal noise power generated by a
receiver of bandwidth Bn in (Hz) at a temperature T (degrees Kelvin) is equal
to :
Available thermal noise power = k. T. Bn

(watts)

A receivers performance is often governed by the ratio of the available signal

power to the noise power present, termed Signal-to-Noise Ratio, (SNR). In
any communication link, the system designer is interested in finding out this
quantity at the receiver, after the signal has been subject to propagation
conditions. Therefore, we are interested to find out the effect of a
propagation channel on the SNR at the receiver.
3

Physical Layer ( Link Layer )

Transmitter
Source
encoding

Channel
coding

Interleaving

Modulation

Tx
section

Date
O/P

Source
decoding

Channel
decoding

Deinterleaving

Demodulation

Rx
section

Channel

Data
I/P

Receiver

The functional block diagram above illustrates the signal flow through a
typical digital communication system physical layer, also referred to as Link
Layer. In the transmitter, the Data Input block can be the digitized version of
an analogue signal such as voice and video, or could be the digital
representation of data used, for example, in computer communications. The
Source Encoding block is required to remove redundancies in the input format.
This reduces the transmit rate and hence the signaling bandwidth required.
Channel coding, for a given data rate, can reduce the probability of error (Pe),
or reduce the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) requirement, at the expense of
bandwidth and decoder complexity. The Interleaving block is common in
systems where the channel introduces other impairments than White Noise,
which may impair the performance of the channel coding.
Modulation is the process by which the symbols are converted to waveforms
that are compatible with the transmission channel. The Tx and Rx section
block represents the RF section of the link which includes up-converters,
power amplifiers, duplexers, antennas, LNA and etc.. The receiver blocks
perform the reverse process to the transmitter blocks. Almost all the blocks in
the transmitter and the receiver chain, are required to overcome the limitations
and impairments set by the Channel. For a fictitious ideal channel, the data
can be transmitted without any of the above blocks.

Channel Capacity
Shannon-Hartley capacity theorem

s
C = W log 2 1 +
n

Shannon showed that the system capacity, C, of a channel perturbed by

additive white Gaussian Noise (AWGN) is a function of the average received
signal power, s, the average noise power, n, and the bandwidth, W. The
capacity relationship ( Shannon-Hartley theorem ) can be stated as :

lo g

1 +

When W is in Hz and the logarithm is taken to the base 2, the capacity is given
in bits/sec. It is theoretically possible to transmit information over such a
channel at any rate, R, where R C, for an arbitrary small error probability by
using a sufficiently complicated coding scheme. For an information rate R >
C, it is not possible to find a code that can achieve an arbitrarily small error
probability. Shannons work showed that the values of s, n, and W set a limit
on transmission rate, not on error probability.

The Noise (AWGN)

1.25

0.75

248

240

232

224

216

208

200

192

184

176

168

160

152

144

136

128

120

96

112

88

104

80

72

64

56

48

40

32

24

16

0.25

-0.25

SNR = 100 dB

-0.75

-1.25

1.5

248

240

232

224

216

208

200

192

184

176

168

160

152

144

136

128

120

112

104

96

88

80

72

64

56

48

40

32

24

16

0.5

SNR = 10 dB

-0.5

-1

-1.5

3.5

2.5

1.5

248

240

232

224

216

208

200

192

184

176

168

160

152

144

136

128

120

112

104

96

88

80

72

64

56

48

40

32

24

16

0.5

-0.5

SNR = 0 dB

-1.5

-2.5

-3.5

It is often helpful to visualize the effect of noise on a signal. In the first plot
above, a clean phase modulated signal with a large SNR is shown. The
second diagram depicts the same signal with AWGN having an average SNR
10 dB. The third diagram shows the case when the signal power is equal to the
noise power.

Self-Noise

Multipath P ropagation

Adjacent Channels

Signal power in many applications is limited to physical attributes of a

communication system. For example, the transmit power of a satellite or a
mobile handset is limited to the available power supply on board, or the
battery size/life in the handset. However, most communication links are
designed so that sufficient signal power is available at the receiver input. Any
excess degradation in received signal power can be compensated by closed or
open loop power control. In any event, to combat AWGN, where possible, the
easy cure is to increase transmit signal power. However, there are other types
of noise/interference for which increased transmit power will NOT improve
the SNR. These are usually self generated, and result from the system design
and operation. One well known example is the ISI in partial response systems,
or the ISI caused by multipath propagation. If these types of ISI are not
combated appropriately, the system performance would be limited (irreducible
error rate), irrespective of transmit power. Multicarrier system also suffer
from such degradation by self noise, as the adjacent carrier sidelobes would
increase in magnitude, with increase in transmitter power.

Electromagnetic Spectrum
VLF

3-30 kHz

100-10 km

Telephone voice freqs

LF

30-300 kHz

10-1 km

Coaxial submarine cable

MF

0.3-3 MHz

1-0.1 km

Land coaxial cables

HF

3-30 MHz

100-10 m

Short wave radio

VHF

30-300 MHz 10-1 m

FM band radio

UHF

0.3-3 GHz

100-10 cm

TV, Mobile Telecomms

SHF

3-30 GHz

10-1 cm

Microwaves, Satellite
TV

EHF

30-300 GHz 10-1 mm

Helical waveguides

Radio waves occupy a large spectrum, from 3 kHz to above 300 GHz, with
each part of spectrum behaving uniquely. More interesting than the frequency
range of the spectrum, is the wavelength variation among the different bands.
Radio engineers have to be able to design system that operate with
wavelengths from hundreds of kilometers, to only a few millimeters. This
change in physical dimension is often coupled with changes in propagation
behavior so requiring different considerations.
Cellular Mobile
communication systems operate in the UHF band, which means a wavelength
of around 30 to 15 cm. This relatively small wavelength would determine
channel parameters such as Doppler Spread, Coherence Bandwidth and the
Frequency Correlation Function.

Mobile Radio Environment

The figure above shows a picture a typical radio system consisting of a base
station and a mobile station moving (or it can be stationary) through the
environment. No direct line-of-site (LOS) path exists between the base station
and the mobile station antennas, because of natural and man-made objects that
are in the immediate vicinity of the mobile station. As a consequence of
reflections, diffraction, scattering..etc, multiple plane waves arrive at the
mobile station from many directions and with different delays as shown in the
above figure. This property is called Multipath Propagation.
Another impairment that affects the wave propagation in a cellular
environment is Multiple-Access-Interference due to many users sharing the
same network resources in terms of time, frequency, and code according the
multiple access scheme used.

Types of Degradation in a Cellular

Environment
AWGN
Noise

Intermodulation Noise
Intra cell interference

MAI

Inter cell interference

Adjacent channel interference
cochannel interference
Mean signal attenuation V distance
Large-scale

variations about the mean

Flat fading

Fading

Time spreading

Freq. selective fading

Time variance of channel

Fast fading

Small-scale

Slow fading

The figure above shows an overview of the impairments that may exist in a
cellular environment, these include : Noise, Interference, and fading.
In todays cellular networks, the emphasis is on multiple user capability
sharing network resources such as time, frequency, and code. As a result of
such sharing the system will be subjected to new impairment called
Interference. The interference in a cellular network can be due to several
different causes, giving rise to intracell, intercell, adjacent channel, and
cochannel interference.
In addition the fading in the cellular environment resulting from the multipath
propagation of the signal can be divided into two types : Large-scale fading
and Small-scale fading.
Large-scale fading represents an average signal power attenuation or path
loss due to motion over large areas. This phenomenon is affected by
prominent terrain contours (hills, forests, billboards, clumps of buildings, etc.).
The receiver is often represented as being Shadowed by such promineces. The
statistics of large-scale fading provide a way of computing an estimate of path
loss as a function distance.
Small-scale fading on the other hand refers to the dramatic changes in signal
amplitude and phase that can be experienced as a result of small changes (as
small as a half-wavelength) in spatial separation between a receiver and
transmitter.

10

Mobile Radio Environment

Base station
antenna
Propagation path loss region

Multipath fading region

TOP VIEW

There are three basic mechanisms that affect signal propagation in a mobile
communication system. They are Reflection, Diffraction, and Scattering:
Reflection occurs when a propagating electromagnetic wave strikes a smooth
surface with very large dimensions compared to the RF signal wavelength.
Diffraction occurs when the radio path between the transmitter and receiver is
obstructed by a dense body with large dimensions compared to the
wavelength, causing secondary waves to be formed behind the obstructing
body. Diffraction is a phenomenon that accounts for RF energy traveling from
transmitter to receiver without using a line of site path between the two. It is
often termed shadowing because the diffracted field can reach the receiver
even when shadowed by an impenetrable obstruction.
Scattering occurs when a radio wave impinges on either a large rough surface
or any surface whose dimensions are on the order of the signal's wavelength or
less, causing the reflected energy to spread out (scatter) in all directions. In an
urban environment, typical signal obstructions that yield scattering are
lampposts, street signs, and foliage.

11

Large and Small Scale Fading

25

m(t)

Signal Power ( dB )

15

r(t)
5

-5

-15

r (t ) = hc (t ) s(t )

-25

Time ( sec )
25

ro(t)

Signal Power ( dB )

15

r ( t ) = m ( t ) r0 ( t )

-5

-15

-25

Time ( sec )

If the received signal is denoted as r(t), then this signal is generally described
in terms of the transmitted signal s(t) convolved with the impulse response of
the channel hc(t). Neglecting the degradation due to noise, we have:
r (t ) = s (t ) hc (t )

Where * denotes convolution. In the case of mobile transmission, r(t) can be

partitioned in terms of two component random variables, as follows :
r (t ) = m(t ) r0 (t )

Where m(t) is called the large-scale fading component, and r0(t) is called the
small-scale fading component.

12

Large-Scale Fading ( log-normal shadowing )

Pathloss (dB)

Pr

Distance (log)

Fitted regression line to measured data

-20

-10

10

20

Typical PDF of log-normal fading

The statistics of large-scale fading provide a way of computing an estimate of

the path loss as a function of distance. This is described in terms of the meanpath loss and a log-normally distributed variation about the mean. In other
words if the average signal level for different points in a propagation medium
are plotted against distance, provided that small-scale fading component is
removed by correct averaging, they would fit into a line as shown in the first
plot above. The slope of the line depend on the frequency used for
transmission, antenna heights, and propagation environment.
On the other hand the random variations observed in the measured averaged
signals are due to shadowing caused by obstacles in the propagation channel.
Such variations exhibits a log-normal behavior, leading to the fact that the
large-scale fading can sometimes be referred to as log-normal fading. The
associated standard deviation of the large-scale fading depends on the medium
and has been observed to vary between 5 to 12 dB. When designing
communication system, a power margin is set aside to compensate for this type
of fading.

13

Path Loss
Ratio between transmitted and received power
expressed in dB.
It includes all the losses and gains in the system

Gt

Gr

Pt
TX

Pr
Path loss

RX

The path loss between a pair of antennas is the ratio of the transmitted power
to the received power, usually measured in dB. It includes all of the possible
elements of loss associated with interactions between the propagating wave
and any object between the transmit and receive antennas.
In the case of mobile fading channels, the path loss applies to the power
averaged over several fading cycles.
This path loss is hard to measure directly, since various losses and gains in the
radio system also have to be considered. These are best accounted for by
constructing a link budget, which is usually the first step in the analysis of a
wireless communication system.

14

Free Space Channels

Pt

Power density at R is :

Pt

4R 2

w / m2

If the power transmitted is denoted byPt, and if an isotropic antenna is used

(one that radiates in all directions uniformly), the power density in (watts per
unit area) at a distance R form the transmitter is equal to the transmitter power
divided by the surface area of an imaginary sphere of radius R.
The power density at R is :

Pt

4R 2

w/m 2

15

Free Space Channels

R
Tx

Rx

Power density with antenna gain is :

Intercepted power at the receiver :

Where Ae, is the effective aperture:

Pt Gt
4R 2
PG A
Pr = t t 2 e
4R

G2
Ae =
4

w / m2

w
m2

Communications systems often employ directive antennas to channel or direct

the radiated power in to some particular direction. The gain of the antenna, G,
can be defined as the ratio of the maximum radiation intensity from the subject
antenna, to the radiation intensity of a lossless, isotropic antenna, with the
same power input. So the power density at the receiver, with a transmitting
antenna gain of Gt is :
Power density with antenna gain is :

PG
t t
4R 2

w/m2

The receiver antenna captures a portion of the received power determined by

the antenna effective aperture, Ae.

Intercepted power at the receiver :

Where Ae, is the effective aperture :

PG A
Pr = t t 2 e
4R
G2
Ae =
4

m2

16

Path Loss Models

The free space path loss model calculates the path loss as :

Lfs = 10log10 Gt 10log10 Gr + 20log10 f + 20log10 d 1476

.

(dB)

The free space path loss models the most optimistic scenario, that is the
propagation in free space. The free space path loss, Lfs, can be calculated by
the following equation :
L fs = 10log10 Gt 10log10 Gr + 20log10 f + 20log10 d 1476
.

(dB)

Where Gt, and Gr, are the transmitter and the receiver antenna gains, f is the
propagation frequency in Hz and d is the distance from the transmitter in
meters. In practice, for UHF mobile radio propagation channels of interest to
us, the free-space conditions do not apply. The high clutter environment of a
terrestrial mobile communication systems requires a more sophisticated
propagation path loss model.

17

The Plane Earth Path Loss Model

Lpe = 10log10 Gt 10log10 Gr 20log10 hBS 20log10 hMS + 40log10 d

dB

A more applicable propagation model to cellular channels is the plane earth

model. This is a two-path model constituted by a direct line of sight path and
a ground-reflected one, which ignores the curvature of the earth surface.
Assuming transmitter antenna, and receiver antenna heights of:
hBS, hMS << d, respectively, the plane earth formula can be derived as :
L pe = 10 log10 Gt 10 log10 Gr 20 log10 hBS 20 log10 hMS + 40 log10 d

(dB)
Note the loss is no longer depend on propagation frequency is removed. There
is a 6 dB path loss reduction occurs, when the transmitter or receiver antenna
elevation is doubled, and an inverse fourth power law decay with increasing
Tx-Rx distance, d.

18

Hata Path Loss Model

LHa = 6955
. + 2616
. log10 f 1382
. log10 hBS a(hMS )
+ (449
. 655
. log10 hBS )log10 d

(dB)

a(hMS ) = (11
. log10 f 0.7)hMS (156
. log10 f 0.8)
Medium sized cities

]
]

. hMS ) 11
.
8.29 log10 (154
a (h MS ) =
2
3
.
2
log
(
11
.
75
)
4.96
h

10
MS

if f < 200 MHz

if f > 400 MHz
Large cities

Hata developed three path loss models. These were developed from an extensive data
base derived by Okumura from measurements in and around Tokyo. The typical
urban Hata model is defined as :
L Ha = 69 .55 + 26.16 log 10 f 13.82 log 10 h BS a ( h MS ) + ( 44 .9 6.55 log 10 h BS ) log 10 d

(dB)
Where f is the propagation frequency in MHz, h BS and h MS are the transmitter and
receiver antenna height in meters, respectively, and a(h MS ) is a terrain dependent
correction factor, while d is the Tx-Rx distance in km. The correction factor, a, for
small and medium sized cities is :
a ( h MS ) = (11
. log 10 f 0.7 ) h MS (1.56 log 10 f 0.8 )

medium sized cities

While for large cities is frequency-parametrized :

2

log 10 (1.54 h MS ) ] 11
.
8.29 [
a ( h MS ) =
2
log 10 (11.75h MS ) ] 4 .97

3.2[

f 200 MHz
f 400 MHz

Large cities

There are other corrections for indoor and rural environments.

The fundamental limitations of Hata models are the followings :
f:
150-1500 MHz
h BS :
30-200 m
h MS :
1-10 m
d:
1-20 km

19

Link Budget ( Example 1 )

GSM band
P = 40 dBm
G = 10

Rxsens = -104
dBm
G = 1.5
h=2m

d=?

Lpe = 10log10 Gt 10log10 Gr 20log10 hBS 20log10 hMS + 40log10 d

Pt Lpe = Rxsens
Pt + Gt + Gr + hBS + hMS ( 104) = 1913
.
d = 607
. km

The above example depicts a typical cellular link-budget scenario. The

antenna height of a macrocell base station (BS) is hBS = 30 m, the transmitter
power Pt = 40 dBm (10 w), and the antenna gain is Gt = 10 dB.
The antenna gain and height of the receiver of the mobile station (MS), are Gt
= 1.5 dB and hMS = 2 m, respectively.
If the receiver sensitivity is Rxsens = -104 dBm, using the plane earth
propagation model at GSM frequencies would provide coverage for a cell
radius of d = 60.7 km.

20

Link Budget ( Example 2 )

GSM band
Log-normal fading
Rxsens = -104
dBm
G = 1.5
h=2m

h = 30 m

P = 40 dBm
G = 10

d=?

Lpe = 10log10 Gt 10log10 Gr 20log10 hBS 20log10 hMS + 40log10 d

Pt Lpe = Rxsens
Pt + Gt + Gr + hBS + hMS ( 104) (2 ) = 1813
.
d = 341
. km

Following example 1, introduction of log-normal fading, with a standard

deviation () of 5 dB would reduce the coverage radius of the cell to 34.1 km.
The power margin requirements for large-scale fading with 5 dB (), is 10 dB,
which would compensate the signal fading 99% of the time.

21

Small-scale Fading Statistics

( Rician Distribution )
Rician Distribution
LOS

P(v) =

v2
2
2

v
exp
2

exp K I0 2 2K

v LOS 2
K=
2 2

When the received signal is made up of multiple reflective signals plus a

significant Line of Sight (LOS) component, the envelope amplitude due to
small-scale fading has a Rician PDF given by :

v2

2
v
v
P (v ) = 2 exp 2 exp K I 0 2

2K

with the Rician K factor given as :

v LOS 2
K=
2 2

K physically represents the ratio of the power received in the direct LOS path,
to the total power received via indirect scattered paths. Therefore, if there is
no dominant propagation path, K = 0, yielding the worst-case Rayleigh PDF.

22

Small-scale Fading Statistics

( Racian Distribution )

Above, normalized Rician PDF distributions with different K parameters are

depicted. It is evident that, as the power in the LOS is increased, i.e...... K is
increased, the probability of a deep fade reduces. As K is increased from zero
the PDF changes from Rayleigh to Rician, and eventually (K >> 30) the
distribution approaches Gaussian.

23

Small-scale Fading Statistics

( Rayleigh Fading Distribution )

v2
v
P ( v ) = 2 exp

2 2
If each multipath component in the received signal is independent, and there is
no direct LOS component from transmitter to receiver, then the PDF of the
received signal envelope is Rayleigh, which is given as :
v2
v
P ( v ) = 2 exp

2 2

24

Small-scale Fading Mechanisms

The small scale fading manifests itself in two mechanisms :
Time-spreading of the underlying digital pulses within the signal.
Time -variant behavior of the channel due to motion.

t = t0

t = t1

t = t0+a

t = t1+11

t = t2

t = t0+b

t = t3

t = t2+21

t = t3+31

t = t1+12

t = t2+22

t = t3+32

t = t2+23

t = t3+33

t = t3+34

The small-scale fading manifests itself in two mechanisms :

Time spreading of the underlying digital pulses within the signal.
Time variant behavior of the channel due to motion of the mobile station.
The figure above illustrates the consequences of both manifestations by
showing the response of the multipath channel to a narrow pulse versus delay
as function of time (assuming constant velocity of motion). The figure shows
the sequence of the received pulse power profile as the antenna moves through
a succession of equally spaced time intervals. For each time interval the
response pattern differs significantly in the delay time of the largest signal
component, the number of signal copies, their magnitudes, and the total
received power (area) in the received power profile.
If an extremely short pulse u(t), ideally an impulse, is transmitted over a time
varying multipath channel given by :

s ( t ) = Re u ( t ) exp( j 2f c t )

The received signal might appear as train of pulses, as shown above, given by :

r (t ) = Re
x n (t ) e
n

j 2 f c n ( t )

u [t n (t ) ]e j 2f c t

Where xn(t) is the attenuation factor for the signal received on the nth path and
n(t), the propagation delay for the nth path.
25

Signal Time-Spreading Viewed in The TimeDelay Domain

S(t)

t
Tm

Channel Power Delay Profile

( Multipath Intensity Profile )

Power Delay Profile

Also referred to as multipath intensity profile or the delay power spectrum of
the channel, in general it is the average power output as function of the time
delay. In practice this function S(t) is measured by transmitting very narrow
pulses, or equivalently, a wideband signal and cross-correlating the received
signal with the delayed version of itself. For a single transmitted impulse, the
time, Tm, between the first and last received component represents the
maximum excess delay, during which the multipath signal power falls to some
threshold level below that of the strongest component. The threshold level
might be chosen at 10 or 20 dB below the level of the strongest component.
Tm is called the Multipath Spread or the Delay Spread of the channel.
Note that for an ideal system (zero excess delay), the function S(t) would
consist of an ideal impulse with weight equal to the average received signal
power.

26

Signal Time-Spreading Viewed in The TimeDelay Domain

Tm

Ts < Tm
Resulting in
ISI in the
system

Tm

Ts > Tm
No ISI

In a fading channel, the relationship between the delay spread Tm, and the
symbol duration Ts, can be viewed in terms of two different degradation
categories, frequency-selective fading and frequency nonselective or flat
fading.
A channel is said to exhibit frequency-selective fading if Ts < Tm. This
condition that occurs whenever the received multipath components of a
symbol extend beyond the symbols time duration, as shown in the upper part
of the above figure. Such multipath dispersion of the signal yields the same
kind of ISI distortion caused by an electronic filter, which inturn will lead to
an irreducible error rate.
A channel is said to exhibit frequency nonselective or flat fading if Ts > Tm.
In this case, all the multipath components of a symbol arrive within the symbol
time duration as shown in the lower part of the figure above.
Here there is no ISI distortion, since the signal time spreading does not result
in significant overlap between neighboring received symbols. There is still
phase degradation since the un-resolvable phasor component can add up
destructively to yield a substantial reduction in SNR.
For loss in SNR due to flat fading, the mitigation technique called for is to
improve the received SNR (or reduce the required SNR). This is can be done
by introducing some kind of signal diversity and using error-correction coding
is the most efficient way to accomplish this.

27

Signal Time-Spreading Viewed in the Frequency

Domain
R(f )

Spaced-Frequency Correlation
Function
F0

1
Fo
Tm
Tm is the channel multipath spread
Fo is the channel coherence bandwidth

A completely analogous characterization of signal dispersion can begin in the

frequency domain. The figure above shows the function |R(f)|, designated a
spaced-frequency correlation function; it is the Fourier Transform of S(t) (the
power delay function). R(f) represents the correlation between the channels
response to two signals as a function of the frequency difference between the
two signals. It can be thought of as the channels frequency transfer function.
R(f) can be measured by transmitting a pair of sinusoids separated in
frequency by f, then cross correlating the two separately received signals, and
repeating the process many times with ever-larger separation f.
Therefore, the measurement of R(f) can be made with a sinusoid that is swept
in frequency across the band of interest.
The Coherence Bandwidth F0, is a statistical measure of the range of
frequencies over which the channel passes all spectral components with
approximately equal gain and linear phase. Thus the coherence bandwidth
represents a frequency range over which frequency components have strong
potential for amplitude correlation. That is, a signals spectral components in
that range are affected by the channel in a similar manner as, for example,
exhibiting fading or no fading.
Note that F0 and Tm are reciprocally related.
possible to say that :

As an approximation, it is

1
T

28

Signal Time-Spreading Viewed in the Frequency

Domain
Fo

Spectral Density

(a) Typical frequency

selective fading case W > F0
W

Frequency

Spectral Density

Fo

(b) Typical frequency

selective fading case W < F0

Frequency

A channel is referred to as frequency-selective if

W > F0
Where the symbol rate (1/Ts) is nominally taken to be equal to the signal
bandwidth W. In practice, W may be different from 1/Ts due to system
filtering or data modulation type.
Frequency selective fading distortion occurs whenever a signals spectral
components are not all affected equally by the channel. Some of the signals
spectral components, falling outside the coherence bandwidth, will be affected
differently (independently) compared to those components contained within
the coherence bandwidth. This occurs whenever W > F0 and is illustrated in
part (a) of the figure above.
Frequency non-selective or flat fading degradation occurs whenever W < F0.
Hence, all of the signals spectral components will be affected by the channel
in a similar manner (e.g....., fading or no fading); this is illustrated in part (b)
of the above figure. Flat fading does not introduce ISI distortion, but
performance degradation can still be expected due to loss in SNR whenever
the signal is fading. In order to avoid ISI distortion, the channel is required to
exhibit flat fading by ensuring that :
1
W < Fo
Ts

Hence, the channel coherence bandwidth F0 sets an upper limit on the

transmission rate that can be used without incorporating an equalizer in the
receiver.
29

Time Variance Viewed in the Time Domain

R(t)

Spaced-Time Correlation
Function
T0

1
To
Fd
To is the channel Coherence time
Fd is the channel Doppler frequency

Until now we have described signal dispersion and the coherence bandwidth,
parameters that describe the channels time spreading properties in a local
area. However, they do not offer information about the time-varying nature of
the channel caused by relative motion between a transmitter and receiver, or
by movement of objects within the channel. For mobile radio applications, the
channel is time variant because motion between the transmitter and receiver
results in propagation path changes. Thus, for a transmitted continuous wave
(CW) signal, as a result of such motion, the radio receiver sees variations in
the signals amplitude and phase. Since the channel characteristics are
dependent on the positions of the transmitter and receiver, time variance in this
case is equivalent to spatial variance.
The figure above shows the spaced time correlation function R(t). It is the
autocorrelation function of the channels response to a sinusoid. This function
specifies the extent to which there is correlation between the channels
response to a sinusoid sent a time t1 and the response to a similar sinusoid sent
at time t2, where t = t2 - t1.
The Coherence Time, T0, is a measure of the expected time duration over
which the channels response is essentially invariant.
The function R(t) and the parameter T0 provide us with knowledge about the
fading rapidity of the channel. Note that for an ideal time-invariant channel
(e.g......, mobile radio exhibiting no motion at all), the channels response
would be highly correlated for all values of t, and R(t) would be a constant
function.
30

Time Variance Viewed in the Time Domain

2.5

(a) Ts > To resulting in

Fast Fading condition

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0.5

Amplitude ( v )

1.5

-0.5

O r i g i n a l t r a n s m itted
signal
S m a ll-scale fading
component

-1

-1.5

Time ( sec )

1.5

(b) Ts < To resulting in

0.5

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

Slow Fading condition

-0.5

-1

Original transmitted
signal
Small-scale fading
component

-1.5

The time-variant nature of the channel or fading rapidity mechanism can be

viewed in terms of two degradation categories: fast fading and slow fading.
The terminology fast fading is used to describe channels in which
Ts > T0
Where Ts is the time duration of a transmission symbol, and To is the
coherence time of the channel.
Fast fading describes a condition where the time duration in which the channel
behaves in correlated manner is short compared to the time duration of the
symbol. Therefore, it can be expected that the fading character of the channel
will change several times while a symbol is propagating, leading to distortion
of the baseband pulse shape. Such distortion leads to an irreducible error rate.
The phenomena of the fast fading is shown clearly in part (a) of the figure
above.
A channel is generally referred to as introducing slow fading if
Ts < T0
Here, the time duration that the channel behaves in a correlated manner is long
compared to the time duration of a transmission symbol. Thus, one can expect
the channel state to remain virtually unchanged during the time in which a
symbol is transmitted.
The primary distortion in a slow-fading channel, as with flat fading is, loss in
SNR.
31

Time Variance Viewed in the Frequency Domain

S(v)

Doppler Power Spectrum

-Fd

-40

0
v

+Fd

40

To

1
Fd

To is the channel coherence time.

Fd is the channel Doppler shift.

A completely analogous characterization of the time-variant nature of the

channel can be given in the frequency domain. The above figure shows a
Doppler power spectral density, S(v), plotted as a function of Doppler
frequency shift, v. For the case of a dense-scatterer model, a vertical receive
antenna with constant gain, a uniform distribution of signals arriving at all
angles, and an unmodulated CW signal, the signal spectrum at the antenna
terminals is :
1

s (v ) =

Fd

v
1
Fd

The equality hold for frequency shifts of v that are in the range (+ Fd, - Fd )
about the carrier frequency Fc, and would be zero outside that range. The
shape of the RF Doppler spectrum given by the above equation is classicallybowl shaped, as shown in the figure above.
The equation above has been shown to match experimental data gathered for
mobile radio channels, however, different applications yield different scatter
shapes. For example, the dense-scatter model does not hold for the indoor
radio channel; the channel model for an indoor area assumes S(v) to be a flat
spectrum. The Doppler frequency shift is calculated from :
Fd =

Hz

Where V is the relative velocity in meter/sec, and is the signal wavelength in

meters.

32

Time Variance Viewed in the Frequency Domain

s( v ) =

1
2

v
Fd 1
Fd

1
To
Fd
To is the channel coherence time.

V
Fd =

Fd is the channel Doppler shift.

Hz

Knowledge of the Doppler power spectral density S(v) allow us to glean how
much spectral broadening is imposed on the signal as a function of the rate of
change in the channel state. The width of the Doppler power spectrum is
referred to as the spectral broadening or Doppler spread, denoted by Fd, and
sometimes called the fading bandwidth of the channel.
In a typical multipath environment, the received signal arriving from several
reflected paths with different path distances and different angles of arrival, and
the Doppler shift of each arriving path is generally different from that of
another path. The effect on the received signal is seen as a Doppler spreading
or spectral broadening of the transmitted signal frequency, rather than a shift.
Note that the Doppler spread, Fd, and the coherence time, T0, are reciprocally
related. Therefore we show the approximate relationship between the two
parameters as :
To =

1
Fd

Hence, the Doppler spread Fd or 1/T0 is regarded as the typical fading rate of
the channel.

33

Time Variance Viewed in the Frequency Domain

If W = 1/Ts , is the bandwidth of the transmitted signal, then

W > Fd

Slow fading channel

Loss in SNR

W < Fd

Fast fading channel

Irreducible error rate

A channel is referred to as fast fading if the symbol rate, 1/Ts (approximately

equal to the signaling rate or bandwidth W) is less than the fading rate, that is
the fading is characterized by :
W < Fd

or

Ts > T0

Conversely, a channel is referred to as slow fading if the signaling rate is

greater than the fading rate. Thus, in order to avoid signal distortion caused by
fast fading, the channel must be made to exhibit slow fading by ensuring that
the signaling rate must exceed the channel fading rate, that is :
W > Fd

or

Ts < T0

Earlier we showed that the coherence bandwidth, F0, sets an upper limit on the
signaling rate which can be used without suffering frequency-selective
distortion. Similarly, the above equation shows that due to Doppler spreading,
the channel fading rate Fd, sets a lower limit on the signaling rate that can be
used without suffering fast fading distortion. For HF communication systems,
when teletype or Morse code messages were transmitted at a low data rate, the
channels were often fast fading. However, most present-day terrestrial mobile
radio channels can generally be characterized as slow fading.

34

Relationships Among the Channel Correlation Function

and Power Density Functions
S(t)

R(f )

F.T.
F0

Tm

(a) Channel Power Delay Profile

(b) Spaced-Frequency Correlation Function

Dual function

Dual function

S(v)

R(t )

F.T.
T0

-40

-Fd

0
v

+Fd

(d) Doppler Power Spectrum

40

(c) Spaced-Time Correlation Function

The above figure summarizes the channel correlation and power delay
functions of the small scale fading described earlier.
A multipath intensity profile, S(t), is plotted in part (a). It represents the
average received signal power as function of the time delay t. The delay
spread value Tm is the maximum access delay between the first and the last
received signal component, during which the multipath signal power falls to
some threshold level below that of the strongest component.
Part (b) shows the function |R(f)| , designated as the spaced-frequency
correlation function; it is the Fourier Transform of S(t). |R(f)| represents the
correlation between the channels response to two signals as a function of the
frequency difference between the two signals. The coherence bandwidth, Fo,
is a statistical measure of the range of frequencies over which the channel
passes all spectral components with approximately equal gain and linear
phase.
Part (c) shows the function |R(t)| , designated the spaced-time correlation
function; it is the autocorrelation function of the channels response to a
sinusoid. This function specifies to what extent there is correlation between
the channels response to a sinusoid sent at time t1, and the response to a
similar sinusoid sent at time t2. The coherence time, To, is a measure of the
expected time duration over which the channels response is essentially
invariant.
Part (d) shows a Doppler power spectral density, S(v), plotted as a function of
Doppler shift , v; it is the Fourier Transform of R(t). The width of the
Doppler power spectrum is referred to as Doppler spread denoted Fd.
35

Mitigation Methods

To combat Frequency-Selective distortion

Adaptive Equalization ( e.g.. decision feedback, Viterbi
equalizer ).
Spread Spectrum ( DS or FH ).
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ( OFDM ).
Pilot Signals.

The figure above describes the mitigation techniques for combating the effects
of both signal distortion and the loss in SNR.
1. Frequency-Selective Distortion
Equalization can compensate for the channel-induced ISI that is seen in
frequency-selective fading. it involves some method of gathering dispersed
symbol energy back together into its original time interval. In effect,
equalization involves insertion of a filter to make the combination of channel
and filter yield a flat response with linear phase. Because in mobile system the
channel response varies with time, the equalizer filter must also change or
adapt to the time-varying channel. Such equalizer filters are therefore called
adaptive equalizers (e.g... decision feedback, Viterbi equalizer).
Spread spectrum techniques can be used to mitigate frequency-selective
ISI distortion because the hallmark of any spread-spectrum system (DS or FH),
is its capability to reject interference, and ISI is a type of interference.
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) can be used in
frequency-selective fading channels to avoid the use of an equalizer by
lengthening the symbol duration. The signal band is partitioned into multiple
subbands, each exhibiting a lower symbol rate than the original band.
Pilot Signal is the name given to a signal intended to facilitate the coherent
detection of waveforms. Pilot signals can be implemented in the frequency
domain as an inband tone, or in the time domain as pilot sequence which can
also provide information about the channel state and thus improve
performance in fading.
36

Mitigation Methods

To combat Fast-Fading distortion

Robust Modulation.
Signal Redundancy to increase signaling rate.
Coding and Interleaving.

2. Fast-fading distortion
Robust modulation (non coherent or differently coherent) that does not
require phase tracking, and reduces the detector integration time.
Increase the symbol rate to be greater than the fading rate by adding signal
redundancy.
Error-correction coding and interleaving can provide mitigation, because,
instead of providing more signal energy, a code reduces the required Eb/N0.
For a given Eb/N0, with coding present, the error floor will be lowered
compared to the uncoded case.

37

Mitigation Methods

To combat Loss in SNR :

Some types of Diversity.
Error-Correction coding.

Diversity Types
Time
Frequency
Spatial
Polarization

3. Mitigation to combat loss in SNR

The term diversity is used to denote the various methods available for
providing the receiver with uncorrelated copies of the signal, therefore, the
receiver will chose the best one and improve the system performance. Listed
below are some of the ways in which the diversity can be implemented.
Time diversity is transmitting the signal on M different time slots with time
separation of at least To. Interleaving, often used with error correction coding,
is a form of time diversity.
Frequency diversity is transmitting the signal on M different carriers with
frequency separation of at least Fo. Bandwidth expansion is a form of
frequency diversity. The signal bandwidth, W, is expanded to be greater than
Fo, thus providing the receiver with several independently fading signal
replicas.
Space diversity Two or more receiver antennas, which are spaced
sufficiently apart, will have different ( uncorrelated ) copies of the signal. The
demodulator of the receiver is made to switch to the antenna with the best
SNR.
Polarization diversity is yet another way to achieve additional uncorrelated
samples of the signal.

38

Link Budget ( Example 3 )

Log-normal fading
sdv = 5 dB
Small-scale fading
margin = 15 dB

h = 30 m

P = 40 dBm
G = 10

Rxsens = -104
dBm
G = 1.5
h=2m

d=?

Lpe = 10log10 Gt 10log10 Gr 20log10 hBS 20log10 hMS + 40log10 d

Pt Lpe = Rxsens
Pt + Gt + Gr + hBS + hMS ( 104) (2 ) 15 = 1663
.
d = 143
. km

Following the previous link budget example, calculating the new cell radius
with 15 dB margin for the small-scale fading component, reduces the coverage
radius to 14.3 km.

39