Pak-Austria Fachhochschule Institute of Applied

Sciences and Technology, Haripur, Pakistan

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Lab Report

Submitted by:
Name: Muhammad Awab Ahsan

Department: Electrical Engineering

Registration No: B20F0242EE016

Semester: 8th

Lab No : 3

Subject:
Wireless & Mobile Communication

Submitted to:

Engr Khurram Khan

__________________

Instructor signature
 Lab – 03
Diffractions Models
What is Diffraction?

Diffraction is a phenomenon where electromagnetic waves (such as light waves) bend around corners
to reach places that are otherwise not reachable i.e. not in the line of sight. In technical jargon, such
regions are also called shadowed regions (the term again drawn from the physics of light). This
phenomenon can be explained by Huygen’s principle which states that “as a plane wave propagates in
a particular direction each new point along the wavefront is a source of secondary waves”. This can be
understood by looking at the following figure. However, one peculiarity of this principle is that it is
unable to explain why the new point source transmits only in the forward direction.

Diffraction is Difficult to Model

The electromagnetic field in the shadowed region can be calculated by combining vectorially the
contributions of all of these secondary sources, which is not an easy task. Secondly, the geometry is
usually much more complicated than shown in the above figure. For example, consider a telecom tower
transmitting electromagnetic waves from a rooftop and a pedestrian using a mobile phone at street level.
The EM waves usually reach the receiver at street level after more than one diffraction (not to mention
multiple reflections). However, an approximation that works well in most cases is called knife edge
diffraction, which assumes a single sharp edge (an edge with a thickness much smaller than the
wavelength) separates the transmitter and receiver.

Knife Edge Model

The path loss due to diffraction in the knife edge model is controlled by the Fresnel Diffraction
Parameter which measures how deep the receiver is within the shadowed region. A negative value for
the parameter shows that the obstruction is below the line of sight and if the value is below -1 there is
hardly any loss. A value of 0 (zero) means that the transmitter, receiver and tip of the obstruction are all
in line and the Electric Field Strength is reduced by half or the power is reduced to one fourth of the
value without the obstruction i.e. a loss of 6dB. As the value of the Fresnel Diffraction Parameter
increases on the positive side the path loss rapidly increases reaching a value of 27 dB for a parameter
value of 5. Sometimes the exact calculation is not needed and only an approximate calculation, as
proposed by Lee in 1985, is sufficient.
Fresnel Diffraction Parameter (v) is defined as:
v=h√(2(d1+d2)/(λ d1 d2))

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where,
d1 is the distance between the transmitter and the obstruction along the line of sight.
d2 is the distance between the receiver and the obstruction along the line of sight.
h is the height of the obstruction above the line of sight.
and λ is the wavelength.

The electrical length of the path difference between a diffracted ray and a LOS ray is equal to
φ=(π/2)(v²) and the normalized electric field produced at the receiver, relative to the LOS path is e-jφ.
Performing a summation of all the exponentials above the obstruction (from v to positive infinity) gives
us the Fresnel Integral, F(v).

Knife Edge Diffraction Model Using Huygens Principle

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Plot of Diffraction Loss

The MATLAB codes used to generate the above plots are given below (approximate method followed
by the exact method). Feel free to use them in your simulations and if you have a question drop us a
comment.
MATLAB Code for Approximate Calculation of Diffraction Loss
% Calculation of the path loss based on the value of Fresnel Diffraction Parameter
clear all
close all
v=-5:0.01:5;
for n=1:length(v)
if v(n) <= -1
G(n)=0;
elseif v(n) <= 0
G(n)=20*log10(0.5-0.62*v(n));
elseif v(n) <= 1
G(n)=20*log10(0.5*exp(-0.95*v(n)));
elseif v(n) <= 2.4
G(n)=20*log10(0.4-sqrt(0.1184-(0.38-0.1*v(n))^2));
else
G(n)=20*log10(0.225/v(n));
end
end
plot(v, G, 'b')
xlabel('Fresnel Diffraction Parameter')
ylabel('Diffraction Loss (dB)')

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MATLAB Code for Exact Calculation of Diffraction Loss

% Exact calculation of the path loss (in dB) based on Fresnel Diffraction Parameter (v)
clear all
close all
v=-5:0.01:5;
for n=1:length(v)
v_vector=v(n):0.01:v(n)+100;
F(n)=((1+1i)/2)*sum(exp((-1i*pi*(v_vector).^2)/2));
end
F=abs(F)/(abs(F(1)));
plot(v, 20*log10(F),'r')
xlabel('Fresnel Diffraction Parameter')
ylabel('Diffraction Loss (dB)')

Exact calculation of the Diffraction Loss

Tasks
Task 1: Change the value of distance and plot fresnel diffraction parameter vs diffraction gain
loss graph.
Matlab Code:
clear all

close all
d1=500:100:80000;
d2=1000;
h=25;
f=900*10^6;
lamda=(3*10^8)/f;
for n=1:length(d1)
v(n)=h*sqrt((2*(d1(n)+d2))/(lamda*d1(n)*d2));
end
for n=1:length(v)
if v(n) <= -1
G(n)=0;
elseif v(n) <= 0
G(n)=20*log10(0.5-0.62*v(n));
elseif v(n) <= 1
G(n)=20*log10(0.5*exp(-0.95*v(n)));
elseif v(n) <= 2.4
G(n)=20*log10(0.4-sqrt(0.1184-(0.38-0.1*v(n))^2));
else
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G(n)=20*log10(0.225/v(n));
 end
end
plot(v, G, 'b')
xlabel('Fresnel Diffraction Parameter')
ylabel('Diffraction Loss (dB)')

Output:

Discussion:
The graph generated using the code is consistent with the defined graph for the range of 2 to 3.4 range
of Fresnel diffraction parameter v. We can only get the positive region from 2 to 3 in this case because
for changing distances only these values can vary. This can be seen with the increasing distance the
loss also increases, the downward trend is also showing this phenomenon.
Task 2: Change the value of effective height and plot fresnel diffraction parameter vs diffraction
gain loss graph.
Matlab Code:
clear all
close all
d1=1000;
d2=1000;
h=-50:0.01:50;
f=900*10^6;
lamda=(3*10^8)/f;
for n=1:length(h)
v(n)=h(n).*sqrt((2*(d1+d2))/(lamda*d1*d2));
end
for n=1:length(v)
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if v(n) <= -1
 G(n)=0;
elseif v(n) <= 0
G(n)=20*log10(0.5-0.62*v(n));
elseif v(n) <= 1
G(n)=20*log10(0.5*exp(-0.95*v(n)));
elseif v(n) <= 2.4
G(n)=20*log10(0.4-sqrt(0.1184-(0.38-0.1*v(n))^2));
else
G(n)=20*log10(0.225/v(n));
end
end
plot(v, G, 'b')
xlabel('Fresnel Diffraction Parameter')
ylabel('Diffraction Loss (dB)')

Output:

Discussion:
The graph generated using the code is consistent with the defined graph for whole range of Fresnel
diffraction parameter v. Here we are getting almost a replica of the pre-defined graph. We can see at
lower height when the object is in LOS, the loss is a less but when the effective height increases, there
is an increase in the loss.

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Task 3: Change the value of frequency (wavelength) and plot fresnel diffraction parameter vs
diffraction gain loss graph.
Matlab Code:
clear all
close all
d1=1000;d2=1000;
h=25;
f=90*10^6:1*10^6:9000*10^6;
for n=1:length(f)
lamda(n)=(3*10^8)./f(n);
v(n)=h*sqrt((2*(d1+d2))/(lamda(n)*d1*d2));
end
for n=1:length(v)
if v(n) <= -1
G(n)=0;
elseif v(n) <= 0
G(n)=20*log10(0.5-0.62*v(n));
elseif v(n) <= 1
G(n)=20*log10(0.5*exp(-0.95*v(n)));
elseif v(n) <= 2.4
G(n)=20*log10(0.4-sqrt(0.1184-(0.38-0.1*v(n))^2));
else
G(n)=20*log10(0.225/v(n));
end
end
plot(v, G, 'b')
xlabel('Fresnel Diffraction Parameter')
ylabel('Diffraction Loss (dB)')

Output:

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Discussion:
The graph generated using the code is consistent with the defined graph for greater than 0 range of
Fresnel diffraction parameter v. Here we are getting almost a replica of the pre-defined graph. We can
see as the frequency increases, there is an increase in loss. This is quite obvious as we all know that
with th3e increase in frequency the effective range of the wave is reduced, hence there is a downward
graph.

Conclusion:
In this lab we covered the knife-edge diffraction model, it is a fundamental component of diffraction
theory, offering valuable insights into wave propagation when encountering sharp obstacles or edges.
This model simplifies the complexities of wave interactions by treating the edge of an obstruction as
the primary source of diffracted waves, facilitating accurate predictions of wave behavior.

THE END

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