Unit III Channel models

Narrowband, wideband and directional models, deterministic channel modeling

methods. Channel sounding: Introduction, time domain measurements, frequency
domain analysis, modified measurement methods, directionally resolved
measurements. Antennas: Introduction, antennas for mobile stations, antennas for base
stations.
 Unit III
Channel
models
Narrowband, wideband and directional models, deterministic channel modeling methods. Channel
sounding: Introduction, time domain measurements, frequency domain analysis, modified measurement
methods, directionally resolved measurements. Antennas: Introduction, antennas for mobile stations,
antennas for base stations.

 Channel Model
Channel models are the mathematical description of the wireless channels like amplitude, scattering
function, fading statistics, and delay spread etc. Channel models very useful in design, planning and
simulation of wireless systems

 Application of Channel Models

1. For the design, testing, and type approval of wireless systems, we need simple channel models that
reflect the important properties of propagation channels i.e., properties that have an impact on system
performance.
2. The designers of wireless networks are interested in optimizing a given system in a certain geographical
region. Locations of Base Stations (BSs) and other network design parameters should be optimized on the
computer, and not by field tests, and trial and error. For such applications, location specific channel models
that make good use of available geographical and morphological information are desirable. However, the
models should be robust with respect to small errors in geographical databases.

 Channel modeling methods

The modeling methods are as follows
 Stored channel impulse responses: In this method of channel modeling a channel sounder used for
the measurement and stores impulse responses. The resulting impulse responses of this approach are
realistic. Due to the storage data are reproducible and the data remain available and can be reused for
simulations of other systems. This is an important distinction from field trials of whole systems, where
there can be no guarantee that the impulse response remains constant over time. It is quite difficult to
store large data and effort in acquiring.
 Deterministic channel models: These channels modeling methods use the morphological and
geographical information from a database to find out the deterministic solution of Maxwell’s equation or
some approximation.
 Stochastic channel models: This model based on the probability density function (pdf) of the channel
impulse response or equivalent functions. These methods do not focused on the correctly predicted
impulse response in one specific location but focused on the prediction of the pdf over a large area.

 Narrowband Models
 Modeling of Small Scale and Large Scale Fading
In case of narrowband channel, the impulse response is delta function with a time varying attenuation for
slowly time varying channels.
ℎ(𝑡, 𝑟) = 𝛼(𝑡)ð(𝑟)
The variations in amplitude over a small area are typically considered as a random process with an
autocorrelation function that is determined by the Doppler spectrum. The complex amplitude is modeled
as a zero mean, circularly symmetric complex Gaussian random variable. As this gives rise to a Rayleigh
distribution of the absolute amplitude, we henceforth refer to this case simply as Rayleigh fading.
 Path Loss Models
We consider models for the received field strength, averaged over both small scale and the large scale
fading. This quantity is modeled completely deterministically. The most simple models of that kind are the
free space path loss model, and the breakpoint model (with n = 2 valid for distances up to d < dbreak, and n
= 4). In more sophisticated models, described below, path loss depends not only on distance but also on
some additional external parameters like building height, measurement environment etc.
The Okumura Hata Model
The Okumura Hata model is by far the most popular model in that category. Path loss (in dB) is written as
𝑃𝐿 = 𝐴 + 𝐵𝑙o𝑔(𝑑) + 𝐶
Where A, B, and C are factors that depend on frequency and antenna height. Factor A increases with
carrier frequency and decreases with increasing height of the Base Station (BS) and Mobile Station (MS).
Also, the path loss exponent (proportional to B) decreases with increasing height of the BS. The model is
only intended for large cells, with the BS being placed higher than the surrounding rooftops.

 Wideband Models
 Tapped Delay Line Models
The most commonly used wideband model is an N tap Rayleigh fading model. This is a fairly generic
structure, and is basically just the tapped delay line structure with the added restriction that the
amplitudes of all taps are subject to Rayleigh fading. Adding an LOS component does not pose any
difficulties; the impulse response then just becomes
𝑁

ℎ(𝑡, 𝑟) = 𝑎0 ð(𝑟 − 𝑟0 ) + ∑ 𝑐i(𝑡)ð(𝑟 − 𝑟i)

i=1
Where the LOS component a0 does not vary with time, while the ci (t ) are zero mean complex Gaussian
random processes, whose autocorrelation function is determined by their associated Doppler spectra. In
most cases, τ0 = τ1, so the amplitude distribution of the first tap is Rician.
 Models for the Power Delay Profile
It has been observed in many measurements that the Power Delay Profile (PDP) can be approximated by a
one sided exponential function:
𝑟
exp (− ) 𝑟≥0
𝑃h(𝑟) = 𝑃sc(𝑟) = { 𝑆r
0 o𝑡ℎe𝑟wi𝑠e
The PDP is the sum of several delayed exponential functions, corresponding to multiple clusters of
Interacting Objects (IOs): For a PDP in the form of above equation the rms delay spread characterizes delay
dispersion. Typical values of the delay spread for different environments are as follows:

Environment Delay Spread

Indoor residential buildings 5–30 ns
Indoor office environments 10 - 300 ns
Factories and airport halls 50 to 200 ns
Microcells 5–100 ns (for LOS situations) to 100–500 ns (for non LOS).
Tunnels and mines up to 100 ns
Typical urban and suburban environments 100 and 800 ns

 Directional Channel Model

In directional channel model of wireless, the directions of the multipath components are also take in
consideration. In wideband channel model only amplitude and delay of the MPCs are consider. Directional
channel model is useful for two reasons.
• The directional properties are important for spatial diversity and multi element antennas.
• It allows separating the propagation effects from the impact of the antenna.

Directional channel model is based on the Double Directional Delay Power Spectrum (DDDPS). It depends
on three variables direction of arrival (DOA), direction of departure (DOD), and delay. The DDDPS is given
by the following
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝑃𝑆(fi, 𝜑, 𝑟) = 𝐴𝑃𝑆BS(fi). 𝐴𝑃𝑆MS(𝜑).
𝑃h(𝑟)
Where APS is angular power spectrum (APS) at the base station, APSMS is angular power spectrum (APS)
BS

at the mobile station and Ph is delay.

 Angular Dispersion at the Base Station
The common model used for the APS at the BS is a Laplacian distribution in azimuth is given by:
−√2|∅−∅0|
𝐴𝑃𝑆(∅)𝛼e 𝑠∅
Where φ0 is the mean azimuthal angle.
Typical range of rms angular spreads is as follows

Environment rms angular spreads

Indoor office environments 10 - 20 for non-LOS and around 5◦ for LOS.
◦ ◦

Industrial environments 20◦ - 30◦

Microcells 5◦ -20◦
Typical urban and suburban environments 3◦ -20◦

 Angular Dispersion at the Mobile Station

As the radiation is incident onto the mobile station from all the direction because it is surrounded by
local IOs like cars, people, houses, etc. The angular distribution is a function of delay. For MSs located
in street canyons without LOS, small delays are related to over the rooftop propagation, which results
in large angular spreads, while later components are waveguide through the streets and thus confined
to a smaller angular range.

 Polarization
Most of channel models based on the analysis of only the propagation of vertical polarization related
transmission and reception using vertically polarized antennas. But polarization diversity work very
effectively i.e. antennas that receive waves with different polarizations.

 Deterministic Channel-Modeling Methods

In deterministic channel models all the geographical and morphological features of a propagation
environment are considered like the wall properties, building structure, and even furniture. Two major
challenges are to be overcome:
(i) The time required for computation is high.
(ii) Need exact knowledge of the boundary conditions.

 Ray Launching
In the ray-launching approach, the transmit antenna transmit or launches rays into different directions.
The total spatial angle 360°/4u is divided into N units of equal magnitude, and each ray is sent in the
direction of the center of one such unit. The number of launched rays is a tradeoff between accuracy of
the method and computation time.

Figure 1 Principle of ray launching

  Ray Tracing
In ray tracing method it determines all rays that can go from one transmitter to one receiver location.
The ray tracing method operates in basic two steps:
1. First, all rays that can transfer energy from the TX location to the RX location are determined.
2. Attenuations due to finite reflection coefficients and free space propagation are computed for all
MPCs.
Ray tracing allows fast computation of single and double reflection processes, and also does not require
ray splitting.

 Channel Sounding
Measurement of the properties (impulse responses) of wireless channels, better known as channel
sounding, is a fundamental task for wireless communications engineering because any channel model is
based on measurement data.
 Generic Sounder Structure
The word channel sounder gives a graphic description of the functionality of such a measurement device. A
transmitter (TX) sends out a signal that excites i.e., sounds the channel. The output of the channel is
observed (listened to) by the receiver (RX), and stored. From the knowledge of transmit and the receive
signal, the time variant impulse response or one of the other (deterministic) system functions is obtained.
Figure shows a block diagram of the channel sounder that is conceptually most simple. The TX sends out a
signal s (t) that consists of periodically repeated pulses p (t):

s(t) Mobile
ŝ(t) g(t) radio
channel
AGC
fc
Timing fc

Time Place Time Place

GPS

Figure 2 Principle of a channel sounder

𝑁

𝑠(𝑡) = ∑ 𝑝(𝑡 − i𝑇rep)

i=1
Where Trep = repetition interval of the transmitted pulses. One measurement run consists of N pulses that
are transmitted at fixed intervals. In order to perform efficient measurements, the following requirements
should be fulfilled by the sounding signal:
• Large bandwidth: the bandwidth is inversely proportional to the shortest temporal changes in the
sounding signal and thus determines the achievable delay resolution.
• Large time bandwidth product: it is often advantageous if the sounding signal has a duration that is
longer than the inverse of the bandwidth
• Signal duration: the effective signal duration must be adapted to channel properties. On one hand, a long
sounding signal can give a large time bandwidth product, which is beneficial. On the other hand, the
sounding signal should not be longer than the coherence time of the channel i.e., the time during which
the channel can be considered to be approximately constant.
• Power spectral density: the power spectral density of the sounding signal should be uniform across the
bandwidth of interest.
  Time-Domain Measurements
A time-domain measurement directly measures the impulse response i.e. time variant. In this
measurement we assume that the channel is time variant and the measured impulse response of the
channel is the convolution of the true channel impulse response with the impulse response of the
sounder and given by
ℎmeans(𝑡i, 𝑟) = 𝑝(𝑟) ∗ ℎ(𝑡i, 𝑟)
Where p (τ) is the effective sounder impulse response and it is the convolution of the transmitted pulse
shape.

 Frequency Domain Analysis

In time domain measurement it directly estimates the impulse response of the channel. In the frequency
domain analysis transfer function is directly calculated. The main thing for its design is that it has a power
spectrum that is approximately constant for the bandwidth of interest, and that it allows interpretation
of the measurement result directly in the frequency domain. Frequency domain analysis is based on
chirping. The transmit waveform is given as below
𝑡2
𝑝(𝑡) = exp [2𝜋j (ƒ0 𝑡 + ∆ƒ. )] ƒo𝑟 0 ≤ 𝑡 ≤ 𝑡 chrip
2𝑡chirp

And the instantaneous frequency is given by

𝑡
ƒ0 + ∆ƒ.
2𝑡chirp
The changes in frequency are linear with time which covers the complete range ∆f of interest. The
receive filter is again a matched filter. Spontaneously the chirp filter sweeps by the different frequencies
and measure different frequencies at different times.

Antennas
Antennas are the interface between the wireless propagation channel and the transmitter (TX) and
receiver (RX), and thus have a major impact on the performance of wireless systems. Antenna design for
wireless communications is influenced by two factors:
(i) Performance considerations and (ii) Size and cost considerations.
 Characteristic Antenna Quantities
 Directivity
The directivity D of an antenna is a measure of how much a transmit antenna concentrates the emitted
radiation to a certain direction, or how much a receive antenna emphasizes radiation from a certain
direction.
D =Total power radiated per unit solid angle in a direction/Average power radiated per unit solid angle
 Efficiency
Losses in the antenna can be caused by several different phenomena. First, ohmic losses (i.e., due to the
finite conductivity of the antenna material) can occur. Second, polarizations between the receive antenna
and the incident radiated field can be misaligned.
 Mean Effective Gain
When the antenna is operated in a random scattering environment, it becomes meaningful to investigate
the Mean Effective Gain (MEG), which is an average of the gain over different directions when the
directions of incident radiation are determined by a random. The MEG is defined as the ratio of the
average power received at the mobile antenna and the sum of the average power of the vertically and
horizontally polarized waves received by isotropic antennas.
 Polarization
Polarization is defined as the orientation of the electric field of an electromagnetic wave. Two often-used
special cases of elliptical polarization are linear polarization and circular polarization. Initial polarization of
a radio wave is determined by the antenna launching the waves into space. The environment through
which the radio wave passes on its way from the transmit antenna to the receiving antenna may cause a
change in polarization.
 Antennas for Mobile Stations
Dipoles and Monopoles - These antennas are greatly Elevation Pattern
preferred in the field of wireless communication due to λ/2 dipole
their Omni-directional feature and low cost. Monopole
antenna is half of a dipole antenna. Monopole uses a
ground plane in place of the second wire. A dipole
λ/2
antenna is made by using two terminals. Radio
frequency current slows into these poles. The poles are Feed
symmetrical and are of equal lengths. It extends in
just opposite directions from the feed point. Monopole
antenna possesses a single element. These are very
easy to build and install, and therefore have gained
some popularity. They can be installed in various forms
Azimuth Pattern
like in commercial flat top versions.
Figure 3 Shape and radiation pattern of a λ/2 dipole
antenna.
Helical Antenna –These are also known as helical
antennas .A travelling wave antennae which is shaped
in the form of a corkscrew is a famous type of helical
antennae. Its wider bandwidth and easy construction
are two key benefits. The current in these antennas
travel along the antenna and the phase keeps on
changing continuously. It works best of pitch angles
between 12 and 14 degrees. Unlike dipole, which
radiates normal to its axis, these antennas are circularly Figure 4 Geometry of a helical antenna.
polarized. Feed
Micro strip Antenna –These were invented by Bob Radiating
element
Munson in 1972. These antennas became highly
popular during the 1970s. These antennas are also
Substrate
known as the patch antennas. Patch refers to the
rectangular component which is photo etched from
one side of the board. The majority of elements are fed
Ground plane
by a coaxial conducted which is soldered to the reverse
part
of the ground plate. Figure 5 Geometry of a micro strip antenna.
 Antennas for Base Stations
The design requirements for base station antennas are different from those of MS antennas. Cost has
a smaller impact, as BSs are much more expensive in the first place. Also, size restrictions are less
stringent: for microcells, it is only required that
(i) The mechanical stress on the antenna mast, especially due to wind forces, must remain reasonable.
(ii) The “cosmetic” impact on the surroundings must be small. For micro- and picocells, antennas need
to be considerably smaller, as they are mounted on building surfaces, street lanterns, or on office
walls.
Array antennas are often used for BS antennas. They result in an antenna pattern that can be more
easily shaped. This shaping can either be done in a predetermined way or. The pattern of an antenna
array can be written as the product of the pattern of a single element and the array factor M(φ, θ ).