1

Wireless
Communications
Chetan Naik J

1
4

What is
Wireless
Communication
s?
Wireless Communications – The
transmission of user information
such as human voice, digital data,
e-mail messages, video and other
multimedia services without the
use of wires 4
7

Advantages of Wireless
Communications

 Mobility
 Increased reliability
 Ease of installation
 Rapid disaster recovery
 Lower cost

7
8

Disadvantages of Wireless
Communications

 Radio signal interference

 Security
 Health hazards

8
9

Wireless Network
Generations
 First Generation Analog Cellular
Systems
 Second Generation Digital Cellular
Systems
 Evolution from 2G to 3G
Cellular Networks
 Third Generation Digital Cellular
Systems 9
 Existing 1G Analog Cellular
Systems
 AMPS : Advanced Mobile Phone
System
 ETACS: Enhanced Total Access
Communication System
 NMT : Nordic Mobile
Telephone
 JTACS : Japanese Total Access
Communication System

10
11

Analog Cellular
Systems
Standard Frequenc Multipl Modulatio Chann
y Band e n el BW
Access
AMPS 824-894 MHz FDMA FM 30KHz
NAMPS 824-894 MHz FDMA FM 10KHz
ETACS 900 MHz FDMA FM 25KHz
NMT-450 450-470 FDMA FM 25KHz
MHz
NMT-900 890-960 FDMA FM 12.5KHz
MHz
JTACS 860-925 FDMA FM 25KHz
MHz 11
12

Second Generation Digital Cellular

Systems
 IS-54/IS-136 : US Digital
Cellular (USDC) - TDMA
System
 GSM : Global System for
Mobile
 PDC : Pacific Digital Cellular -
A Japanese TDMA Cellular
Standard 12
13

Digital Cellular
Systems
Standard Frequenc Multipl Modulation Chann
y Band e el BW
Access
USDC 824-894 MHz TDMA π/4-DQPSK 30KHz

IS-95 824-894 MHz CDMA QPSK/ 1.25MHz

1.8-2.0 GHz BPSK

GSM 890-960 MHz TDMA GMSK 200KHz

PDC 810-1501 TDMA Π/4-DQPSK 25KHz

MHz
13
14

An Evolution Path from GSM to 3G

Network
Evolutio
n WCDM
A

EDGE 384 - 2048 kbps

EGPRS

384 kbps
GPRS

9.6 - 53.6 kbps

HSCSD

WCDMA
9.6 - 28.8 kbps
GSM Phase I

Data
144 - 384 kbps
9.6 kbps

Data
14
Rate
15

An Evolution Path from CDMA to 3G

Network
Evolutio
n

CDMA200
0 MC
3xRTT

CDMA200 14.4 kbps – 2Mbps

0 MC
1xRTT
14.4 - 307 kbps
IS-95B

14.4 - 144 kbps

IS-95A

14.4 kbps

Data
Rate 15
 Evolution of IMT-2000
standards
IMT-2000
IMT-2000

IMT-FT
IMT-FT IMT-SC
IMT-SC
(Frequency-
(Frequency- (Single
(Single CDMA
CDMA (3
(3 modes)
Time)
Time) Carrier)
Carrier) modes)
FDMA/TDMA
FDMA/TDMA TDMA
TDMA

IMT-TC IMT-DS IMT-MC

(Time Code) (Direc (Multi-
t Carrier)
Spread
)

DECT UWC- UTRA W- Cdma200

(FDMA 136 TDD, TD- CDMA 0
) (TDMA) SCDMA (CDMA) (CDMA)
(CDMA)
16
Convergence of Services in IMT-
2000
Telephon
y
•Voice
 Video
 Fax
 Mailbox
Internet
•Web surfing
 Email Convergence
 Information IMT-2000
 M-
Commerce
Multimedia
•Television
 Radio
 Infotainme
nt
Locatio
n
services 17
18

IMT 2000 Services

 Voice
 Switched Data
 Messaging
 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
 Immediate Messaging
 Medium, High, and Interactive Multimedia
 Sending multimedia postcards

18
19

Second Generation Digital Cellular

Systems
 IS-54/IS-136 : US Digital
Cellular (USDC) - TDMA
System
 GSM : Global System for
Mobile
 PDC : Pacific Digital Cellular -
A Japanese TDMA Cellular
Standard 19
12

Propagation Mechanisms
 Reflection : Propagating wave impinges
on an object which is large compared to
wavelength, such as the surface of the
Earth, buildings, walls, etc.
 Diffraction : Radio path between
transmitter and receiver obstructed by
surface with sharp irregular edges.
Waves bend around the obstacle, even
when LOS does not exist
 Scattering : Objects smaller than the
wavelength of the propagating
wave, e.g. foliage, street signs,
lamp posts. 12
13

Effects of Reflection on Signal

Propagation
BS - Tx
)
Direct path

Reflected path

120o MS - Rx
)

Building size >10m

13
14

Diffraction
 A change in wave pattern caused by interference
between waves that have been reflected from a
surface or a point
 Causes regions of waves strengthening and
weakening
 Results in bending of the wave
 Can occur in different situations when
waves
√ Pass through a narrow slit
√ Pass the edge of a reflector
√ Reflect off two different surfaces
approximately one wavelength apart
14
15

Diffraction of Radio
Signal
Direct path
BS - Tx
Diffracted path
)

MS - Rx
)

Object ≈33
cm

15
16

Scattering of Radio
Signal
BS - Tx
Scattering of
signals

MS - Rx

Object ≈33
cm

16
17

Blocking and
Absorption
 Some substances
like trees and
shrubs, clouds,
mist and other
atmospheric
moisture and dust,
metal screen,
human body near
a hand held
absorb radio waves
 Higher frequency
radio waves are
absorbed more than 17
18

Refraction
 Refraction is the bending of
electromagnetic waves as they pass
from medium of one density into
medium of another density.
 Radio waves typically bend due to changes
in density of air caused by changes in
humidity, temperature or pressure.
 Dielectric constant describes how the
wave will propagate through the
material.
18
19

Refraction of Radio
Signal
tropos
phere
or iono
sphere
al
gn
si
refl
dio ec
ra ted
ed rad
ct io
sig
fra na
re dio sign
al l
t ra
direc

Earth

19
20

Mobile Radio Channel

 Mobile radio channels introduce noise,
fading, interference, and other
distortions into the signals that they
transmit.
 In mobile communication system, a signal
experiences multipath propagation which
causes rapid signal level fluctuations of the
amplitude of a radio signal in a short time
over a short distance called fading.

20
Impairment to Radio Channel -
Fading
 Multipath waves are generated
because the antenna height of mobile
is lower than its typical surroundings,
and the operating
wave length is much less than the
sizes of the surrounding structures at
mobile.
 The sum of multipath waves causes a
signal fading phenomenon.
 The signal may fade in range of about
40 dB (10 dB above and 30 dB below 21
Multipath Fading in a Mobile
Radio Environment
Tx Antenna

Wireles
s
Mediu
m
Multipath
Radio
fading
path
~100λ

Cell Site
Cell
Site

22
 Types of Fading
 Fading effects due to multipath
time delay spread
 Flat (non-frequency selective)
fading
 Frequency selective fading
 Fading effects due to Doppler
spread
 Fast fading (Rayleigh fading)
 Slow fading (Rician fading)
23
Flat (Non-frequency Selective)
Fading
 When radio channel has a constant
gain and linear phase response but its
bandwidth is greater than that of the
transmitted signal
 All frequency components of the received
signal fluctuates in the same proportions
simultaneously
 Described by Rayleigh distribution
 Typical flat fading channels cause deep
fades, (20 or 30 dB) 24
25

Frequency Selective Fading

 When radio channel has a constant gain
and linear phase response but its
bandwidth is less than that of the
transmitted signal
 Affects the different spectral components
of a radio signal unequally
 Due to time dispersion of the
transmitted symbols within the
channel, the channel induces
intersymbol interference
 Frequency selective fading channels are
also known as wideband channels 25
26

Fast Fading (Rayleigh fading)

 Rapid fluctuations in received signal
strength occur over distances of about
one-half a wavelength.
 The channel impulse response changes
rapidly within the symbol duration.
 The coherence time of the channel is
smaller than symbol period of the
transmitted signal.
 This causes frequency dispersion, also
called time selective fading, due to Doppler
spreading. 26
27

Slow Fading (Rician fading)

 Rapid fluctuations in received signal
strength occur over distances of about
one-half a wavelength.
 The channel impulse response changes
rapidly within the symbol duration.
 The coherence time of the channel is
smaller than symbol period of the
transmitted signal.
 This causes frequency dispersion, also
called time selective fading, due to Doppler
spreading. 27
A Typical Fading Signal
Received -80

-90
Signal Level (dBm)

-100

-110

-120

-130

0 5 10 15 25 30
20

Relative Position (m)

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29

Shadow Fading
 The variation of the signal strength
due to location
 Similar to slow fading
 Typically modeled by attenuation in
signal amplitude that follows a log-
normal distribution
 The variation in shadow fading is
specified by the standard deviation of the
logarithm of this attenuation

29
 Effects of Multipath
Fading
(as noticed by the listener)
 Rapid change in volume
 Random frequency modulation
 Echoes
 Distortion
 Dropped call

30
31

Multipath Delay Spread

 Multipath propagation yields signal
paths of different paths with different
times of arrival at the receiver.
 Spreads/smears the signal, could cause inter-
symbol interference, limits maximum symbol
rate
 Delay Spread also occurs due to
Rayleigh fading which results from
the signal’s amplitude and phase
being altered by reflections.
31
32

Delay spread of a received

signal

32
33

TypicalDelay Spread
Values

33
34

Doppler Shift
 The relative motion between the cell
site and mobile results in random
frequency change due to different
Doppler shifts on each of the
multipath components.
 The Doppler shift, fd is given by
fd = (1/λc) Vm cos θ
where λc is the wavelength of the carrier
signal, Vm is the relative velocity of the
mobile, the angle θ is between the motion of
the mobile and direction of arrival of the
34
scattered waves.
35

Doppler Spread
Doppler shift will be positive or negative
depending on whether the mobile receiver is
moving towards or away from the cell site.
In mobile radio applications, the Doppler
spectrum or Doppler spread for a Rayleigh fading
channel is usually modeled by
D(λ) = (0.16/fdm) x [1-( λc / fdm)2]-0.5 for - fdm ≤ λc ≤ fdm
where fdm is the maximum Doppler frequency
possible fdm = Vm / λc

35
36

Level Crossing Rate

It is possible to relate the time rate of change
of the received signal to the signal level and
velocity of the mobile.
The level crossing rate, NL is defined as the
expected rate at which the Rayleigh fading
envelope, normalized to the local RMS signal level,
crosses a specified threshold level in a positive-
going direction.
NL = 2.5 fdm ρ e- ρ2
ρ is the value of the specified level L, normalized to the local
rms amplitude of the fading envelope, that is, L/Lrms.

36
 Fade Rate and Fade
Duration
Fade rate is defined as the number of
times that the signal envelope crosses
the threshold value in a positive going
direction per unit time.
Average fade rate = 2 Vm / λc
The average fade duration is defined
as the average period of time for
which the received signal is below a
specified level L.
37
ρ2
38

Coherence Bandwidth
 The coherence bandwidth is a
statistical measure of the range of
frequencies over which the channel
can be considered flat.
 The coherence bandwidth, Bc represents
the correlation between two fading signal
envelopes at frequencies f1 and f2 and is a
function of delay spread Ŧd.
Bc ≈ 1 / (2 π Ŧd)
Where Ŧd is the delay spread.
38
39

Coherence Time
 Coherence time is the time duration over
which two received signals have a
strong potential for amplitude
correlation.
 It is used to characterize the time varying nature of
the frequency dispersiveness of the channel in
the time domain.
 Coherence time, Ŧc is inversely
proportional of Doppler spread.
Ŧc ≈ 0.423 / fdm
Where fdm is the maximum Doppler shift given by 39
40

Wireless Fading Channels

 Simulating a wireless communication
system involves modeling a mobile
radio channel based on mathematical
descriptions of the channel.
 Even when a mobile receiver is stationary, the
received signal may fade due to movement of
surrounding objects in the radio channel.
 Rayleigh and Rician fading channels are
useful models of real-world phenomena
in wireless communications.

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41

Impulse Response of
Channel
 The wireless channels can be
characterized by a parameter U, defined
as ratio of the power in the dominant path
to the power in the scattered path.
 When U = 0 (that is, power in the dominant path is zero),
the channel is Rayleigh channel.
 When U is equal to infinity (that is, power in the
scattered path is zero), the channel is AWGN.
 The impulse response is a wideband channel
characterization and contains all
information necessary to simulate any type
of radio transmission through the channel. 41