58 3 Radio Propagation and Propagation Path-Loss Models

Example 3.3
Calculate the received power at a distance of 3 km from the transmitter if the
path-loss exponent  is 4. Assume the transmitting power of 4 W at 1800 MHz,
a shadow effect of 10.5 dB, and the power at reference distance (d0  100 m) of
32 dBm. What is the allowable path loss?

Solution
Using Equation 3.11 and including shadow effect we get

Pr(d)  10 log [P0(d0)]  10 log (d0/d)  X

100
 Pr  32  10  4  log   3000 
 10.5  80.5 dBm

Allowable path loss  Pt  Pr  36  (80.5)  116.5 dB

Example 3.4
What is the separation distance between the transmitter and the receiver with an allow-
able path loss of 150 dB and shadow effect of 10 dB? The path loss in dB is given as:

Lp  133.2  43 log d

where:
d  separation distance in km

Solution
Using Equation 3.13, we have

150  133.2  40 log d  10

6.8
log d    0.17
40

d  100.17  1.48 km

3.6 Characteristics of a Wireless Channel

The wireless channel is different and much more unpredictable than the wireline
channel because of factors such as multipath and shadow fading, Doppler shift,
and time dispersion or delay spread. These factors are all related to variability
3.6 Characteristics of a Wireless Channel 59

introduced by mobility of the user and the wide range of environmental conditions
that are encountered as a result. Multipath delays occur as a transmitted signal
is reflected by objects in the environment between a transmitter and a receiver.
These objects can be buildings, trees, hills, or even trucks and cars (see Figure 3.6).
The reflected signals arrive at the receiver with a random phase offset, since each
reflected signal generally follows a different path to reach the user’s receiver, result-
ing in a random signal that fades as the reflections destructively or constructively
superimpose on one another. This effectively cancels or adds part of signal energy
for brief periods of time. The degree of fading will depend on the delay spread
of the reflected signals as embodied by their relative phases, and their relative
power.
A mobile radio channel exhibits both time dispersion and frequency dispersion.
Time dispersion is the distortion to the signal and is manifested by the spreading in
time of the modulation symbols. This is caused by frequency-selective fading. A chan-
nel, which is said to be frequency selective, has many frequency components that take
different times to arrive at the receiver and undergo different attenuation levels. The
frequency band over which the attenuation remains constant provides a frequency

Initial Received
Transmitted 3 Pulses
Pulse
1
Base Station
Antenna
4

N  4

t
d

Figure 3.6 Multipath delay.

60 3 Radio Propagation and Propagation Path-Loss Models

region where all frequency components behave identically. We identify this frequency
band as the coherence bandwidth of the channel.
Time dispersion occurs when the channel is band-limited or when the coherence
bandwidth of the channel is smaller than the modulation bandwidth. The time disper-
sion leads to inter-symbol-interference (ISI), where the energy from one symbol spills
over into another symbol, thereby increasing the bit-error-rate (BER).
In many instances, the fading due to multipath delay will be frequency selective,
randomly affecting only a portion of the overall channel bandwidth at a given time.
In the case of frequency selective fading, the delay spread exceeds the symbol dura-
tion. On the other hand, when there is no dispersion and delay spread is less than
the symbol duration, the fading will be flat, thereby affecting all frequencies in the
signal equally. Flat fading can lead to deep fades of more than 30 to 40 dB.
Doppler shift is the random changes in a channel introduced as a result of a
mobile user’s mobility. Doppler spread has the effect of shifting or spreading the fre-
quency components of a signal. This is described in terms of frequency dispersion.
Like the coherence bandwidth, coherence time is defined as the time over which
the channel can be assumed to be constant. The coherence time of the channel is
the inverse of the Doppler spread. It is the measure of the speed at which channel
characteristics change. This determines the rate at which fading occurs. When the
channel changes are higher than the modulated symbol rate, fast fading occurs.
Slow fading occurs when the channel changes are slower than the symbol rate.

3.6.1 Multipath Delay Spread, Coherence Bandwidth, and

Coherence Time
As discussed earlier, the multipath delay spread is the time dispersion characteristic
of the channel. Each multipath component is typically associated with different
time delays and attenuation, the shortest of which is the LOS path.
We denote the rms delay spread in multipath delay by d and the maximum
spread in frequency due to Doppler shift, fm. We use the coherence bandwidth,
which is a range of frequencies over which two frequency components have a
strong potential for amplitude correlation, to define whether the channel fading is
flat or frequency selective.
The coherence bandwidth (Bc) between two frequency envelopes is given
as [16]:

1
Bc ≈  (3.16)
2d

Frequency components of a signal separated by more than Bc will fade

independently. A channel is a frequency-selective channel if Bc  Bw, where Bw
is the signal bandwidth. Frequency selective distortion occurs whenever a signal’s
spectral components are not all affected equally by the channel. In order to avoid
channel-induced ISI distortion, the channel is required to be flat fading by ensuring
3.6 Characteristics of a Wireless Channel 61

that Bc Bw. Thus, the channel coherence bandwidth sets an upper limit on the
transmission rate that can be used without incorporating an equalizer in the receiver.
The coherence time, Tc, describes the expected time duration over which the
impulse response of the channel stays relatively invariant or correlated. The coher-
ence time is approximately inversely proportional to Doppler spread [16,17]

1
Tc ≈  (3.17)
2fm

where:
v
fm    maximum Doppler spread

v  velocity of moving vehicle
  wavelength  c/f
f  frequency of carrier
c  speed of electromagnetic wave in free space (3  108 m/s)
A rule of thumb for the coherence time value is Tc  0.423/fm.
If the transmitted symbol interval, Ts , exceeds Tc , then the channel will
change during the symbol interval and symbol distortion will occur. In such cases,
a matched filter is impossible without equalization and correlator losses occur.
A Rayleigh fading signal may change amplitude significantly in the interval Tc.
If the signal symbol interval Ts » Tc , the channel changes or fades rapidly
compared to the symbol rate. This case is called fast fading and frequency disper-
sion occurs, causing distortion. If Ts « Tc the channel does not change during the
symbol interval. This case is called slow fading. Thus, to avoid signal distortion
caused by fast fading, the channel must be made to exhibit slow fading by ensuring
that the signaling rate exceeds the channel fading rate Ts  Tc.

Example 3.5
Assuming the speed of a vehicle is equal to 60 mph (88 ft/sec), carrier frequency,
fc  860 MHz, and rms delay spread d  2 sec, calculate coherence time and
coherence bandwidth. At a coded symbol rate of 19.2 kbps (IS-95) what kind of
symbol distortion will be experienced? What type of fading will be experienced
by the IS-95 channel?

Solution
v  60 mph (88 ft/sec)
 108
  c  9.84
6  1.1442 ft
f 860  10
v 88
Maximum Doppler shift  fm     77 Hz
 1.1442
1 
Tc   1
  0.0021 seconds
2fm 2  77
62 3 Radio Propagation and Propagation Path-Loss Models

10 6
Ts    52 s
19,200
The symbol interval is much smaller compared to the channel coherence
time. Symbol distortion is, therefore, minimal. In this case fading is slow.

1 
Coherence bandwidth  Bc ≈  1  79.56 kHz
 6
2d 2  2  10

This shows that IS-95 is a wide band system in this multipath situation and
experiences selective fading only over 6.5% (79.56/1228.8  0.0648 ~ 6.5%) of
its bandwidth (Bw  1228.8 kHz).

3.7 Signal Fading Statistics

As discussed earlier, the rapid variations (fast fading) in signal power caused by
local multipaths are represented by Rayleigh distribution. The long-term vari-
ations in the mean level are denoted by lognormal distribution. With a LOS
propagation path, the Rician distribution is often used for fast fading. Thus, the
fading characteristics of a mobile radio signal are described by the following
statistical distributions (see Figures 3.7 and 3.8).

K  dB

Rayleigh Distribution

K  6 dB

p (r)

Rician Distribution

Received signal envelope voltage r (volts)

Figure 3.7 Rayleigh and Rician distribution.