Wireless Communication (BTEC-601-18)

Unit 2

Digital Communication through fading multipath channels

Fading:
In wireless communications, fading is variation of the attenuation of a signal with various variables.
These variables include time, geographical position, and radio frequency. Fading is often modeled as
a random process. A fading channel is a communication channel that experiences fading. In wireless
systems, fading may either be due to multipath propagation, referred to as multipath-induced fading,
weather (particularly rain), or shadowing from obstacles affecting the wave propagation, sometimes
referred to as shadow fading.

The presence of reflectors in the environment surrounding a transmitter and receiver create multiple
paths that a transmitted signal can traverse. As a result, the receiver sees the superposition of multiple
copies of the transmitted signal, each traversing a different path. Each signal copy will experience
differences in attenuation, delay and phase shift while travelling from the source to the receiver. This
can result in either constructive or destructive interference, amplifying or attenuating the signal power
seen at the receiver. Strong destructive interference is frequently referred to as a deep fade and may
result in temporary failure of communication due to a severe drop in the channel signal-to-noise ratio.
A common example of deep fade is the experience of stopping at a traffic light and hearing an FM
broadcast degenerate into static, while the signal is re-acquired if the vehicle moves only a fraction of
a meter. The loss of the broadcast is caused by the vehicle stopping at a point where the signal
experienced severe destructive interference. Cellular phones can also exhibit similar momentary fades.
Fading channel models are often used to model the effects of electromagnetic transmission of
information over the air in cellular networks and broadcast communication. Fading channel models are
also used in underwater acoustic communications to model the distortion caused by the water.
Fading is a phenomenon that occurs due to varying parameters and conditions of the channel during
wireless propagation. To better understand and eliminate the adverse effects of fading, it is divided
into various types. Let us take a look into them in detail.

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Types of fading

The figure above shows the different types of fading and the sub-categories. We have tried to elaborate
on each type of fading below and provide information on how do they affect wave propagation.

1. Large Scale Fading: This refers to the attenuation of signal power due to obstacles between the
transmitter and receiver. It also covers the attenuation and fluctuations of signal when the signal is
transmitted over a long distance (usually in kilometres).

 Path Loss: It refers to the attenuation when a signal is transmitted over large distances.
Wireless signals spread as they propagate through the medium and as the distance increases,
the energy per unit area starts decreasing. This is a fundamental loss that is independent of the
type of transmitter and medium. Although, we can minimize its effects by increasing the
capture area/dimension of the receiver.
 Shadowing: This refers to the loss in signal power due to the obstructions in the path of
propagation. There are a few ways in which shadowing effects can minimize signal loss. One
that is most effective, is to have a Line-Of-Sight propagation.
Shadowing losses also depend on the frequency of the EM wave. As we know, EM Waves can
penetrate through various surfaces but at the cost of loss in power i.e signal attenuation. The
losses depend on the type of the surface and frequency of the signal. Generally, the penetration
power of a signal is inversely proportional to the frequency of the signal.

2. Small Scale Fading: This refers to the fluctuations in signal strength and phase over short distance
and small duration of time. It is also called Rayleigh Fading. Small Scale Fading affects almost all
forms of wireless communication and overcoming them is a necessity to increase efficiency and
decrease error.

 Fast Fading: It occurs mainly due to reflections for surfaces and movement of transmitter or
receiver. High doppler spread is observed in the fast fading with Doppler bandwidth
comparable to or greater than the bandwidth of the signal and the channel variations are as fast
or faster than the signal variations. It causes linear distortions in the shape of the baseband

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signal and creates Inter Symbol Interference (ISI). One way to remove ISI is adaptive
equalization.
 Slow Fading: It occurs mainly due to shadowing where large buildings or geographical
structures obstruct the LOS. Low doppler spread is observed in Slow Fading with the doppler
bandwidth being smaller compared to the bandwidth of the signal and the channel variations
are slow relative to the signal variations. It results in reduction of SNR which can be overcome
using error correction techniques and receiver diversity techniques.
 Multipath Fading: It occurs when a signal reaches the receiver from various path i.e. when
multipath propagation takes place. Multipath fading can affect all ranges of frequencies starting
from low frequency to microwave and beyond. It affects both the amplitude and the phase of
the signal causing phase distortions and ISI. Multipath fading can affect signal transmission in
two ways:
o Flat Fading: In flat fading, all frequency components get affected almost equally. Flat
multipath fading causes the amplitude to fluctuate over a period of time.
o Selective Fading: Selective Fading or Selective Frequency Fading refers to multipath
fading when the selected frequency component of the signal is affected. It means
selected frequencies will have increased error and attenuation as compared to other
frequency components of the same signal. This can be overcome by techniques such as
OFDM which spreads the data across the frequency components of the signal to reduce
data loss.

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Channel Characteristics:

The wireless channel is disposed to a variety of transmission impediments such as path loss,
interference and blockage. These factors restrict the range, data rate, and the reliability of the
wireless transmission.

Types of Paths:

The extent to which these factors affect the transmission depends upon the environmental
conditions and the mobility of the transmitter and receiver. The path followed by the signals to
get to the receiver, are two types, such as −

Direct-path
Multi-path

Direct-path: The transmitted signal, when reaches the receiver directly, can be termed as
a direct path and the components presents that are present in the signal are called as direct path
components.

Multi-path: The transmitted signal when reaches the receiver, through different directions
undergoing different phenomenon, such a path is termed as multi-path and the components of
the transmitted signal are called as multi-path components. They are reflected, diffracted and
scattered by the environment, and arrive at the receiver shifted in amplitude, frequency and
phase with respect to the direct path component.

Multipath propagation: In wireless media, signals propagate using three principles, which
are reflection, scattering, and diffraction.

Reflection occurs when the signal encounters a large solid surface, whose size is much larger
than the wavelength of the signal, e.g., a solid wall.
Diffraction occurs when the signal encounters an edge or a corner, whose size is larger than
the wavelength of the signal, e.g., an edge of a wall.
Scattering occurs when the signal encounters small objects of size smaller than the wavelength
of the signal.
One consequence of multipath propagation is that multiple copies of signal propagation along
multiple different paths, arrive at any point at different times. So the signal received at a point
is not only affected by the inherent noise, distortion, attenuation, and dispersion in the channel
but also the interaction of signals propagated along multiple paths.

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Characteristics of Wireless Channel:

The most important characteristics of wireless channel are −

Path loss
Fading
Interference
In the following sections, we will discuss these channel characteristics one by one.

Path Loss: Path loss can be expressed as the ratio of the power of the transmitted signal to the
power of the same signal received by the receiver, on a given path. It is a function of the
propagation distance. Estimation of path loss is very important for designing and deploying
wireless communication networks Path loss is dependent on a number of factors such as the
radio frequency used and the nature of the terrain. The free space propagation model is the
simplest path loss model in which there is a direct-path signal between the transmitter and the
receiver, with no atmosphere attenuation or multipath components.

Fading: Fading refers to the fluctuations in signal strength when received at the receiver. The
time between the reception of the first version of the signal and the last echoed signal is
called delay spread. The multipath propagation of the transmitted signal, which causes fast
fading, is because of the three propagation mechanisms, namely −

Reflection
Diffraction
Scattering

Interference: Wireless transmissions have to counter interference from a wide variety of

sources. Two main forms of interference are –

Adjacent channel interference and

Co-channel interference.

Interference:

In Adjacent channel interference case, signals in nearby frequencies have components

outside their allocated ranges, and these components may interfere with on-going transmission
in the adjacent frequencies. It can be avoided by carefully introducing guard bands between the
allocated frequency ranges.

Co-channel interference, sometimes also referred to as narrow band interference, is due to

other nearby systems using the same transmission frequency.

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Inter-symbol interference is another type of interference, where distortion in the received

signal is caused by the temporal spreading and the consequent overlapping of individual pulses
in the signal.

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Wireless Channel Modeling

A Communication Channel is the medium used to transmit information from one point to the
other Though wired channels are fast, cost-effective and secure, they are short ranged, motion
restricted.

Ideally, modeling a channel is calculating all the physical processing effecting a signal from
the transmitter to the receiver.

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Wireless Channel Modeling:

Three main mechanisms of electromagnetic wave progogation are

1) Reflection
2) Diffraction
3) Scattering

Reflection, Diffraction & Scattering

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Due to these EM wave propogation mechnisms, radio propagation can be roughly

described by three nearly independent phenomenon :

The total attenuation can be decomposed into path loss, shadowing and multipath fading as
follows:

a(t) = aP L(t) · aSH(t) · aF A(t)

In this presentation, we shall focus more on the modeling and simulation of multipath fading.

Multipath fading in wireless communication systems is commonly modeled by Rayleigh and

Rician distributions.

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Rayleigh and Rician Distribution:

A close approximation of attenuation due to multipath fading in wireless channels can be done
by Rayleigh fading (for the case where no line of sight component present) and Rician fading
(for the case where line of sight component present).

Rayleigh Distribution:

Rayleigh distribution can also be got by taking two independent and identically distributed
zero mean gaussian random random variables as real and imaginary parts of a complex
number and then taking its magnitude.

A Rayleigh Random Variable R has the probability distribution:

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Rayleigh Fading Model:

For a wireless channel, the envelope of the channel response is modeled to have a Rayleigh
distribution.

Rayleigh Fading is a reasonable model when there are many objects in the environment that
scatter the radio signal before it reaches the receiver.

Delay spread & Doppler Spread:

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Clarke's Model:

Rayleigh fading model: Assumes isotropic scattering

Assuming linear relationship between input and output

Generating Rayleigh Channel model using two different Gaussian distributions

Gans developed a spectrum analysis for Clarke's model to include the doppler effect.

Defining Tc(t) and Ts(t) be Gaussian random processes. At any time, Tc and Ts are
uncorrelated zero mean Gaussian random variables:

r (t )=√Tc (t )2+Ts(t )2

The channel response envelope, r(t), has a Rayleigh. As derived by Gans, Doppler shift can be
included into this channel model by passing r(t) through the filter s(t) given by:

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S ( f )=1.5/(π∗Fd∗√1−( f −Fc / Fd )2)

Refer the section 'Clarke's Model for flat fading' in 'Wireless Communications – Principles
and Practice' by Rappaport.

The steps are clearly given in the section 'Simulating Clarke's and Gans fading model' with a
block diagram showing the frequency domain implementation of a Rayleigh fading simulator
at baseband.

Repeat the above process to generate 3 such waveforms r(t) and find the cross- correlation
values among them. Tabulate it.

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Jakes' Channel Model:

A sum of sinusoids model. Assuming isotropic scattering i.e. receiver gets rays from all
directions but they have a spacing of 2 π/ N

So Jakes' gets rid of the possibilities that all the rays might be coming in a small sector.

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Jakes' gives pdf of scaling as a function of angle of arrival for each path.

Cn2= f (α)d α

f (α)=1/ 2 π ; d α=2 π/ N

Cn=1/ √ N

Modified Jakes' Channel Model

Ideally, each waveform generated must be uncorrelated to the others but there was a very high
cross-correlation in Clarke's model. In Jakes' model, though the cross-correlation was lower
than Clarke's model, it can be still be reduced

Modified Jakes' model: To have negligible cross-correlation between different waveforms.

This is achieved my multiplying each waveform with a Hadamard Code.

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Concept of diversity

It is the technique used to compensate for fading channel impairments. It is implemented by using two
or more receiving antennas. Diversity is usually employed to reduce the depth and duration of the
fades experienced by a receiver in a flat fading channel. These techniques can be employed at both
base station and mobile receivers.

Diversity is a powerful communication receiver technique that provides wireless link improvement at
a relatively low cost. Diversity techniques are used in wireless communications systems to primarily
to improve performance over a fading radio channel.
In such a system, the receiver is provided with multiple copies of the same information signal which
are transmitted over two or more real or virtual communication channels. Thus the basic idea of
diversity is repetition or redundancy of information. In virtually all the applications, the diversity
decisions are made by the receiver and are unknown to the transmitter.

Superposition of multiple signal at the receiver cause random amplitude variation which is known as
Fading. A Diversity mechanism is used to decrease the effect of fading is called Diversity.

In Diversity mechanism, multiple copies of the same data is transmitted to the receiver through
multiple paths or channels and the decision is made by the receiver without knowing to the
transmitter.

In telecommunications, a diversity scheme refers to a method for improving the reliability of a

message signal by using two or more communication channels with different characteristics. Diversity
is mainly used in radio communication and is a common technique for combatting fading and co-
channel interference and avoiding error bursts. It is based on the fact that individual channels
experience different levels of fading and interference. Multiple versions of the same signal may be
transmitted and/or received and combined in the receiver. Alternatively, a redundant forward error
correction code may be added and different parts of the message transmitted over different channels.
Diversity techniques may exploit the multipath propagation, resulting in a diversity gain, often
measured in decibels.

Diversity technique is mainly applied on the receiver, & unknown to the transmitter. By this technique
the strongest or the best signal is received at the receiver.

According to the types of fading i.e. small & large scale, diversity techniques may be classified as:

(1). Small- scale fading: Small scale fades are characterized by deep & rapid amplitude
fluctuations which arise as the mobile moves just few wavelengths. These fades are caused by
multiple reflections from the surrounding object. To alleviate this, microscopic diversity
technique, space diversity or antenna diversity techniques may be used.

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(2). Large-scale fading: Large scale fading is caused by shadowing due to variations in the
terrain profile & surrounding also. It occurs at large distance from the base-station. To
alleviate this, macroscopic diversity may be used.

CLASSIFICATION OF DIVERSITY TECHNIQUES

1) Space Diversity or Antenna diversity: It is one of the most popular diversity technique used
in wireless systems. The direct path between the transmitter (BS) & receiver (MS) is not guaranteed
& the possibility of a number of scatters in the mobile environment suggests a Rayleigh fading signal
(small-scale fading). Multiple signals from spatially separated antenna (BS) is received on the mobile,
the best signal is picked by the mobile using the diversity technique as shown in Figure 1.

In Space diversity, there are multiple receiving antennas placed at different spatial locations, resulting
in different (possibly independent) received signals.
The difference between the diversity schemes lies in the fact that in the first two schemes, there
is wastage of bandwidth due to duplication of the information signal to be sent. Thus problem is
avoided in the remaining three schemes, but with the cost of increased antenna complexity.

It is also used in the base station (BS) design. At each cell site, multiple BS receiving antennas are
used to provide diversity reception as shown in Figure 1. The Space or Antenna diversity [6] can be
categorize as:

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The Space or Antenna diversity types

a) Selection Diversity: This is simplest diversity technique where demodulators are used to
give diversity branches whose gains are adjusted to provide the same average SNR for each
branch. The receiver branch having the highest instantaneous SNR is connected to the
demodulator. In practice the branch with the largest (S+N)/N is used, as it is difficult to
measure SNR alone.

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b) Feedback or Scanning Diversity: This technique is very similar to selection diversity

except that instead of always using the best ‘n’ signals, the ‘n’ signals are scanned in a
fixed sequence until one s found above a predetermined threshold value. Now, this signal is
then continuously received until it falls below threshold value & if falls, the scanning
process is again initiated. The block diagram of feedback or scanning diversity is shown in
figure 2.

c) Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC): In this method, the signal from the all branches are
weighted according to their voltage to noise power ratios & then summed (unlike selection
diversity, where individual receiver is used).m MRC produces an output SNR equal to the
sum of the individual SNR. This technique has a merit of producing an output with an
acceptable SNR even when none of the individual signals are themselves good enough. It
is used in modern DSP techniques & digital receivers. Here the individual signals must be
co-phased before summation

d) Equal Gain Diversity: In certain cases, it is impossible to provide variable weighting

capability like MRC. In such cases, the branch weights are set to unity, but the signals from
each branch are co-phased to provide equal gain combining diversity’. This allows the
receiver to exploit signals that are simultaneously received on each branch. This is superior
than selection diversity but inferior than MRC technique. The block diagram of the Equal
Gain Diversity is shown in figure 3.

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2) Macroscopic Diversity: Macroscopic diversity is a technique that can facilitate high quality
and ubiquitous communications between low-power portable radiotelephones and data
terminals, and radio base stations (ports) that are connected to the local network. It uses radio
signals from several base stations to alleviate the effect of shadow fading, a variation of signal
strength over space created by the presence of buildings, foliage, and terrain variations. The
improvement in signal to co-phased channel interference ratio is equivalent to a factor-of-five
savings of spectrum
3) Polarization diversity: Here, the electric and magnetic fields of the signal carrying the
information are modified and many such signals are used to send the same information.
Thus orthogonal type of polarization is obtained.
Polarization Diversity require two transmitter and two receiving antennas with different
polarization. The transmission wave with two different polarization constitute two different
paths. This provides only two different diversity branches. Polarization Diversity uses half
power by dividing the power between two different polarized antennas. It relies on the de-
correlation of the two receive ports to achieve diversity gain. The two receiver ports must
remain cross-polarized.
4) Frequency diversity: Frequency diversity is obtained by transmitting the same information on
more than one carrier frequency or transmitting the same signal over different carrier
frequency. In Frequency Diversity only one antenna is needed.
The signal is transmitted using several frequency channels or spread over a wide spectrum that
is affected by frequency-selective fading.
The same information signal is transmitted on different carriers, the frequency separation
between them being at least the coherence bandwidth.
The signal is transmitted using several frequency channels or spread over a broad spectrum that
is exaggerated by frequency-selective fading . Middle-late 20th century microwave radio relay
lines often used numerous regular wideband radio channels, and one protection channel for
automatic use by any faded channel. Later examples include:

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(1). OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) modulation in combination with

subcarrier interleaving and forward error correction and
(2). Spread spectrum, for example frequency hopping or DS-CDMA

5) Time Diversity: The information signal is transmitted repeatedly in time at regularly intervals.
The separation between the transmit times should be greater than the coherence time, T c.
The time interval depends on the fading rate, and increases with the decrease in the rate of
fading.

Multiple versions of the same signal are transmitted at different time instants. Alternatively, a
redundant forward error correction code is added and the message is spread in time by means
of bit-interleaving before it is transmitted. Thus, error bursts are avoided, which simplifies the
error correction.

Time diversity is obtained by re-transmitting the same signal at separate interval of time.The
re-transmission interval should be less than the coherence time. Time Diversity also does not
require any increase in the transmission power. Multiple versions of the same signal are
transmitted at different time instants. Time Diversity repeatedly transmits information at time
spacing that exceeds the coherence time of the channel. A modern implementation of time
diversity involves the use of RAKE receiver for spread spectrum CDMA, where multipath
channel provides redundancy in the transmitted message. Multiple repetitions of the signal will
be received with multiple fading conditions, thereby providing for diversity.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DIVERSITY

▣ Diversity is a powerful communication technique that provides wireless link improvements at
relatively low cost.
▣ Diversity exploits the random nature of radio propagation by finding the best version of
multiple independent incoming signals at the receiver.
▣ In diversity technique the multiple independent paths signal are highly uncorrelated.
▣ If one radio path undergoes a deep fade another independent path may have a strong signal.
▣ Two criteria are necessary to obtain a high degree of improvement from a diversity from a
diversity system are
▣ (1). First, the fading in individual branches should have low cross-correlated and (2). Second,
the mean power available from each branch should be almost equal.

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COMPARISON

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Frequency Non-selective vs. Selective Fading:

Considering the comparison between bandwidth of transmitted signal and coherent bandwidth, if the
bandwidth of transmitted signal is small, then all the frequency components of signal may
approximately undergo the same degree of fading. This kind of channel is called frequency non-
selective or flat fading. In a frequency non-selective channel, the symbol duration is large enough
comparing with coherent bandwidth because of the reciprocal relationship between coherent
bandwidth and coherent time, and bandwidth and symbol duration. In this situation, delays are
relatively small between different paths compare to the symbol duration. It is expected to receive only
one copy of signal with the gain and phase determined by the superposition of all those copies come
within the coherent time. However, considering the same parameters if the bandwidth of the
transmitted signal is large then different frequency component may undergo of different fading. This
kind of channel is called frequency selective fading. The symbol duration is small comparing to
coherent bandwidth due to their reciprocal relationship. Delays between different paths can be large
respect to the symbol duration. It is then expected to receive multiple copies of signal.

Fast Fading vs. Slow Fading:

If there is a long term shadowing effect of buildings or natural objects in terrain then slow fading
occur in a channel. The local mean is influenced by the environment types. Therefore, it is really
difficult to make a prediction. However, if it is plotted the signal fluctuation in a logarithmic scale, the
fluctuation approaches a normal distribution. This kind of distribution is called log-normal. The typical
value of the standard deviation of shadowing distribution is 8 in Decibel. When the symbol duration is
small comparing to coherent time, then the channel is called slow fading channel. This type of channel
often modeled as time invariant channels

over a number of symbol intervals. Moreover, slow varying channel parameters can be estimated by
different types of estimation techniques. Multipath propagation characteristics of a radio signal results
path signals to add up to random phases in both ways constructively or destructively at the receiver
end. These phases can vary extremely rapid way along with the receiver end and can be determined by
the path length, and the carrier frequencies. If we consider a large number of scattered wave fronts
which has random amplitude and angles and if we consider that it arrives at the receiver end with
uniformly distributed phases [0, 2], then in-phase and quadrature-phases components of the vertical
electrical field can described Gaussian process. The presence of a direct path in space, it will no longer
be a Rayleigh distribution. Then it becomes a Ricean distribution. When there is a close or smaller
coherent time to/than symbol duration, the channels is fast fading or time-selective fading. It is still a
difficult phenomenon to estimate the parameters of the channel in a fast fading channel.

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Large Scale Fading vs. Small Scale Fading:

Large scale fading is considered the mean path loss variation over distances that are proportional to the
size of obstructive features between base station and the mobile. In this case, the receiver is differently
shadowed by the obstructive features at a sufficient distance. The signal variation in level due to large-
scale fading follows a log-normal distribution. The standard deviation of the signal in this kind of
fading channels depends on the propagation environment and the distance between the mobile and the
base station. However, small-scale fading is a phenomenon creates by the multipath propagation in a
channel. Multi-path channels include one or more than one reflected propagation paths between a
transmitter and a receiver to a feasible line-of-sight (LOS) propagation path. In addition with
propagation via dominating reflectors such as high mountains, large buildings, the transmitted signal
can be scattered by structures present in around of transmitter or receiver. The destructive interference
between multi-paths may be a reason to fade the channel greater than 20 dB [3].

Rician Fading vs. Rayleigh Fading:

There is a variation of fading loss during sampling a radio wave in various spatial locations. If there
are enough scatters in a dense multipath environment, the complex amplitude is well modeled by a
Gaussian distribution. If there is a line-of-sight (LOS) propagation path in between transmitter and
receiver, then the mean Gaussian distribution is non-zero [2]. It leads to attenuation with absolute
value of complex amplitude which is Ricean distribution and it terms as Rician fading. The signal
variation follows Rice probability density function (PDF) in channel here. If there is a line-of-sight
(LOS) propagation path in a dense urban environment, then there is a zero mean Gaussian distribution
which is leading to a Rayleigh distributed attenuation and the channels is called Rayleigh fading
channel. The envelope fluctuations of the signal follow the Rayleigh PDF in Rayleigh fading channel
and the signal comes from almost the directions with the same average power. The Rayleigh fading is
predominant and worst case in typical land mobile communication systems. Multipath fading
phenomena occurs in three situations. If the mobile unit and the nearby scattering objects all moving,
If the mobile unit is standing but the nearby scattering objects are moving and if the mobile unit and
the nearby scattering objects all standing

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Combining methods: Selective diversity combining, Switched combining, Maximal ratio

combining, Equal gain combining.

Diversity: It is the technique used to compensate for fading channel impairments. It is implemented
by using two or more receiving antennas. While Equalization is used to counter the effects of ISI,
Diversity is usually employed to reduce the depth and duration of the fades experienced by a receiver
in a flat fading channel. These techniques can be employed at both base station and mobile receivers.
Spatial Diversity is the most widely used diversity technique.

Spatial Diversity Technique‐ A Brief Description: In this technique multiple antennas are
strategically spaced and connected to common receiving system. While one antenna sees a signal null,
one of the other antennas may see a signal peak, and the receiver is able to select the antenna with the
best signal at any time. The CDMA systems use Rake receivers which provide improvement through
time diversity.

Diversity Techniques‐ Highlights: Unlike Equalization, Diversity requires no training overhead as a

transmitter doesn’t require one. • It provides significant link improvement with little added cost. • It
exploits random nature of wave propagation by finding independent ( uncorrelated) signal paths for
communication.

Fundamentals of Equalization: ISI has been recognized as the major obstacle to high speed data
transmission over mobile radio channels. Equalization is a technique used to combat inter symbol
interference. As the mobile fading channels are random and time varying, equalizers must track the
time varying characteristics of the mobile channel, and thus are called adaptive equalizers.

Diversity Techniques‐ Highlights:

It is a very simple concept where in one path undergoes a deep fade and another independent path may
have a strong signal. As there is more than one path to select from, both the instantaneous and average
SNRs at the receiver may be improved, often as much as 20‐30 dB.

Channel Coding: It is the technique which improves mobile communication link performance by
adding redundant data bits in the transmitted message. In this technique, the base band portion of the
transmitter, a channel coder maps a digital message sequence into another specific containing greater
number of bits than originally contained in the message. The coded message is then modulated for
transmission in the wireless channel. Channel Coding Channel Coding is used by the receiver to detect
or correct some or all of the errors introduced by the channel in a particular sequence of message bits.
The added coding bits lower these the raw data transmission rate through the channel. There are two
types of codes: Block codes and convolutional codes.

Channel Coding is used by the receiver to detect or correct some or all of the errors introduced by the
channel in a particular sequence of message bits. The added coding bits lower these the raw data

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transmission rate through the channel. There are two types of codes: Block codes and convolutional
codes.

Diversity Technique :

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Space Diversity: A method of transmission or reception, or both, in which the effects of fading are
minimized by the simultaneous use of two or more physically separated antennas, ideally separated
by one half or more wavelengths.

Signals received from spatially separated antennas on the mobile would have essentially uncorrelated
envelopes for antenna separations of one half wavelength or more. Generalized block diagram of sace
diversity.

Selection Diversity:

Selecting the best signal among all the signals received from different braches at the receiving end.

Consider M independent Rayleigh fading channels available at receiver

Assumptions:

• Each branch has the same average SNR

• Instantaneous SNR for each branch = γ

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The Signal‐to‐Noise ratio is defined as follows

• Selection diversity offers an average improvement in the link margin without requiring
additional transmitter power or sophisticated receiver circuitry.

• Selection diversity is easy to implement because all that is needed is a side monitoring station
and an antenna switch at the receiver.

• However it is not an optimal diversity technique because it does not use all of the possible
branches simultaneously.

• In practice the SNR is measured as (S+N)/N, since it is difficult to measure SNR.

• This method is very simple to implement, requiring only one receiver.

• The resulting fading statistics are somewhat inferior to those obtained by the other methods.

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Maximal Ratio Combining: Combining all the signals in a co‐phased and weighted manner so
as to have the highest achievable SNR at the receiver at all times. Consider M branches which are
maximal ratio combined in a co‐phased and weighted manner in order to achieve high SNR

• The voltage signal γi from each of the M diversity branches are co‐phased to provide coherent
voltage addition and are individually weighted to provide optimal SNR.

• Each branch has gain Gi

• Each branch has same average noise power N

Equal Gain Combining: Combining all the signals in a co‐phased manner with unity weights for all
signal levels so as to have the highest achievable SNR at the receiver at all times.

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 Wireless Communication (BTEC-601-18)

Equal Gain Combining:

In certain cases it is not convenient to provide for the variable weighting capability.

This allows the receiver to exploit signals that are simultaneously received on each branch.

The probability of producing an acceptable signal from a number of unacceptable inputs is still
retained.

The performance is marginally inferior to maximal ratio combining and superior to selection
Diversity.

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