Chapter 4: Mobile Radio Propagation

Small-Scale Fading and Multipath

 Goals of the Chapter
 In cellular system, calls are occasionally disconnected
 Possible cause: Rapid fluctuation of radio signal’s amplitude over a
short time period or travel distance

 Reasons for wireless channels to become selective and

dispersive, both in frequency and time
 Sources of signal fluctuation: multipath propagation mobility

 How is propagation loss model modified?

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 2

Overview
 Small-scale fading
 Factors influencing fading
 Doppler shift
 Impulse response model
 Small-scale measurements
 Fading parameters
 Types of fading
 Fading distribution
 Statistical fading models

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 3

Small-scale Fading – Multipath
 Small-scale fading (or simply fading) describes rapid
fluctuation of amplitude of a radio signal over
 Short period of time or
 Small travel distance
 Is severe than the large-scale path
 Fading is caused by multipath (self) interference
 Multipath: Two or more versions of a transmitted signal
 Multipath signals, if arrive at slightly different times, may combine
at the receiver antenna distractively that causes signal fluctuation

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 4

Small-scale Fading – Mobility
 Effects of multipath
 Time dispersion (echoes) caused by multipath propagation delays
 Frequency selectivity nature of the wireless channel as a result of
time dispersion

 Another source of fading is mobility

 Random frequency dispersion (modulation) resulting from Doppler
shifts on different multipath signals (Doppler shift is b/c of mobility)
 As a result of mobility, the channel becomes time varying

 Fading depends on
 Relative propagation time of the signals
 Speed of receiver and surrounding object
 Bandwidth of the transmitted signal (and data rate)

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 5

Small-scale Fading – Influencing Factors
1. Multipath propagation
 Presence of reflecting objects and scatterers causes
 Multiple version of the signal to arrive at the receiver with different
amplitude and time delays
2. Speed of mobile
 Causes Doppler shift (“+” or “-”) at each multipath component
 Results in random frequency modulation
3. Speed of surrounding objects
 Causes time-varying Doppler shift on the multipath components
 If the surrounding objects move at a greater rate than the mobile,
then this effect dominates the small-scale fading and vice versa
 If the surrounding objects move at a much slower rate than the
mobile their effect can be ignored.

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 6

Small-scale Fading – Influencing Factors
 The term coherence time determines how “static” the channel is
(and depends on the Doppler shift), e.g., room environment ,
outdoor, urban, …

4. Bandwidth of the signal

 The channel bandwidth can be quantified by the term coherence
bandwidth, Bc
 Coherence bandwidth measures the maximum frequency difference
for which signals are still strongly correlated in amplitude

 If BW of the signal is greater than the coherence bandwidth, the

received signal will be distorted (filtered)
 However, the signal strength will not fade much over a local area (i.e.,
small-scale fading will not be significant)
 If the transmitted signal has a narrow bandwidth as compared to
the channel, signal will not be distorted in frequency

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 7

Overview
 Small-scale fading
 Factors influencing fading
 Doppler shift
 Impulse response model
 Small-scale measurements
 Fading parameters
 Types of fading
 Fading distribution
 Statistical fading models

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 8

Doppler Shift – Illustration
 Phase change in the received
signal due to path difference
2πΔl 2πvΔt
Δ   cosθ
λ λ
 The apparent change in frequency
1  v
fD    cosθ
2 t λ
 Relates the Doppler shift to the
mobile velocity
 Shift can be “+” or “-” depending
direction of motion

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 9

Doppler Shift – Illustration
 When a wave source (transmitter) and/or a receiver is/are
moving, the frequency of the received signal will not be the
same as that of the transmitted signal
 When they are moving towards each other, the frequency of the
received signal is higher than the source
 When they are opposing each other, the frequency decreases

 Thus, the frequency of the received signal is

f R  fC  f D

 Where f C is the frequency of the source carrier

f D is the Doppler shift in frequency

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 10

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 11
Overview
 Small-scale fading
 Impulse response model
 Bandwidth and received power
 Small-scale measurements
 Fading parameters
 Types of fading
 Fading distribution
 Statistical fading models

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 12

Impulse Response Model
 Small-scale variations of a signal is related to the impulse
response of the mobile radio channel
 The impulse response is
 A wideband channel characterization
 Contains all information necessary to simulate or analyze any type
of channel

 A wireless channel can be modeled as a linear time

varying (LTV) filter
 The time variation is due to receiver motion in space
 We use discrete-time impulse response model

 Filtering is caused by the summation of amplitudes and

delays of the multipath signals at any instant of time

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 13

Impulse Response Model …
 Consider the transmission of the band-pass signal sb(t)

 where s(t) = x(t) + jy(t) is the complex envelop or complex

baseband signal
 X(t): In-phase component x(t)
 Y(t): Quadrature component

 Advantage of baseband representation

 It allows signal manipulation via s(t) irrespective of the carrier
frequency fc

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 14

Impulse Response Model …
 The received signal rb(t) will have a similar form

 Both rb(t) and r(t) depend on the channel’s behavior

 In multipath channel, the received signal is the sum of

 Line-of-sight path
 All resolvable multipath components

 Associated with each path is

 A propagation delay k(t)
 An attenuation factor k(t)
 Dk : Doppler phase shift associated with kth multipath component

 Propagation delay, attenuation factor, and Doppler shift are

time-variant as a result of time-varying nature of the channel
Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 15
Impulse Response Model - LTV Filters

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 16

Impulse Response Model - LTV Filters
 Example of time varying discrete-time impulse response
model for a multipath radio channel
 0 represents the first arriving signal at the receiver & equal to zero
  = 1 - 0 is the time delay

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 17

Overview
 Small-scale fading
 Impulse response model
 Small-scale measurements
 Fading parameters
 Types of fading
 Fading distribution
 Statistical fading models

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 18

Small-Scale Multipath Measurements
 Channel Sounding Techniques
1. Direct RF pulse system
2. Spread spectrum sliding correlator
3. Frequency domain channel sounding

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 19

Overview
 Small-scale fading
 Impulse response model
 Small-scale measurements
 Fading parameters
 Power delay profile and delay spread
 Coherence bandwidth
 Doppler spread and coherence time
 Types of fading
 Fading distribution
 Statistical fading models

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 20

Power Delay Profile
 Many multipath channel parameters are derived from the
power delay profile, (PDP)
 PDP is found by averaging instantaneous power delay profile
measurements over a local area

 PDPs are represented as plots of relative received power

as a function of excess delay with respect to a fixed time
delay reference

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 21

Measure Multipath Power Delay Profile (PDP)

The signal from

intermediate
reflectors
The signal from
far away
reflectors

From a 900 MHz cellular system in

San Francisco
The signal from
close by reflectors Inside a grocery store at 4 GHz

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 22

Delay Spread
 Each multipath signal travels different path length, so that
the time of arrival for each path is different
 A single transmitted pulse will be time spread (dispersion)
when it reaches the receiver
 This effect which spreads out the signal is called delay
spread
 Delay spread leads to increase in signal bandwidth
 Delay spread is a property of the communication channel
that may cause inter-symbol interference (ISI)
 Require channel equalizers, pulse shaping filters, Rake receivers

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 23

Time Dispersion Parameters
 Mean excess delay: First moment of the PDP & defined as
  2
k k  P( ) k k
  k
 k

 k
2
k  P( )k
k

 RMS delay spread: The square root of the second central

moment of the PDP
       2 2

 where   2
k
2
k  P( ) k
2
k
2  k
 k

 k
2
k  P( ) k
k

 Maximum excess delay: The time delay during which

multipath energy falls to X dB below the maximum
 These delays are measured relative to the first detectable
signal arriving at the receiver at 0=0
Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 24
Example: Indoor Power Delay Profile

Also called the

excess delay
spread

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 25

Example:

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 26

Coherence Bandwidth, BC
 Characterizes the channel in the frequency domain
 Analog to the delay spread parameters in the time domain

 Coherence bandwidth measures range of frequencies over

which the channel is considered to be “flat”
 Flat: A channel which passes all spectral components with
approximately equal gain and linear phases
 Is a statistical measure

 Or, coherence bandwidth defines frequency ranges in which

two freq components have a strong amplitude correlation
 Two sinusoids with frequency separation greater than BC are
affected differently by the channel

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 27

Coherence Bandwidth …
 The rms delay spread and coherence bandwidth, BC, are
inversely proportional to each other
1. For frequency correlation function  0.9, then
1
BC 
50 
2. If the frequency correlation is relaxed to 0.5, then
1
BC 
5 

 Note: An exact relationship between BC and  does not

exist

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 28

Coherence Bandwidth – Example
 Calculate the mean excess delay and rms delay spread for
the multipath profile given in the figure below
 Estimate the 50% coherence bandwidth of the channel
 Would this channel be suitable for AMPS or GSM service
without the use of an equalizer?

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 29

Coherence Bandwidth – Solution

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 30

Overview
 Small-scale fading
 Impulse response model
 Small-scale measurements
 Fading parameters
 Power delay profile and delay spread
 Coherence bandwidth
 Doppler spread and coherence time
 Types of fading
 Fading distribution
 Statistical fading models

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 31

Doppler Spread
 Doppler spread and coherence time describe the time
varying nature of the wireless channel due to mobility
 Delay spread and coherence bandwidth describe the time
dispersive nature of the channel in a local area

 Mobility: Relative motion is either between MS and BS or

movement of objects in the channel
 Doppler spread, BD
 Measures the spectral broadening caused by the time rate of
change of the mobile radio channel

 Defined as the range of frequencies over which the received

Doppler spectrum is essentially non-zero

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 32

Doppler Spread …
 Let a sinusoidal tone of frequency fc is transmitted
 The received signal range spectrum, called the Doppler
spectrum, will have components in the range fc-fd to fc+fd,
where fd is the Doppler shift
 Doppler shift is a function of
 Relative velocity of the MS
 Frequency of the signal
 Angle  between the direction of motion of the MS and
direction of arrival of the scattered wave

 If the baseband signal bandwidth is much greater than BD,

the effects of Doppler Spread are negligible

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 33

Coherence Time
 Coherence Time, Tc: The time domain dual of BD
1
TC 
fm
 where: fm is the maximum Doppler Shift given by fm  v

 Coherence time is
 Measures the time duration over which the channel impulse
response is invariant
 A statistical measure that quantifies the similarity (correlation) of
the channel at different times

 Two signals arriving with a time separation greater than Tc

are affected differently by the channel

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 34

Coherence Time …
 For time correlation function above 0.5, then
9
TC 
16f m

 A popular rule of thumb is to define the coherence time as

the geometric mean of the above two equations, i.e.,
9 0.423
TC  
16f m2 fm
 E.g., for a vehicle traveling at 60 mph (26.8mps) using 900 MHz
carrier, a conservative value of TC is shown to be 2.22 ms
 If a digital system that transmits at symbol rate > 1/TC = 454bps, the
channel will not cause distortion due to motion

 However, distortion could result from multipath time delay spread,

depending on the channel impulse response

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 35

Coherence Time – Example
 Determine the proper spatial sampling interval required to
make small-scale propagation measurements which assume
that consecutive samples are highly correlated in time.
 How many samples will be required over 10 m travel
distance if fc = 1900 MHz and v=50m/s.
 How long would it take to make these measurements,
assuming they could be made in real time from a moving
vehicle?
 What is the Doppler spread BD for the channel?

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 36

Coherence Time – Solution

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 37

Overview
 Small-scale fading
 Impulse response model
 Small-scale measurements
 Fading parameters
 Types of fading
 Fading distribution
 Statistical fading models

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 38

Types of Small-scale Fading

Small-scale Fading
(Based on Multipath Time Delay Spread)

Flat Fading Frequency Selective Fading

1. BW Signal < BW of Channel 1. BW Signal > BW of Channel
2. Delay Spread < Symbol Period 2. Delay Spread > Symbol Period
Small-scale Fading
(Based on Doppler Spread)
Fast Fading Slow Fading

1. Low Doppler Spread

1. High Doppler Spread
2. Coherence Time > Symbol Pe
2. Coherence Time < Symbol Period
3. Channel variations smaller tha
3. Channel variations faster than baseband
signal variations
signal variations
Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 39
Flat Fading
 The channel has a constant gain and linear phase
response over a BW > the BW of the transmitted signal
 The spectral characteristics of the transmitted signal are preserved
at the receiver
 Most common type of fading described in the literature
 However, the strength of the received signal change with
time, due to fluctuations in the gain of the channel caused
by the multipath
 Typically, flat fading channels cause deep fades, and may require
20 or 30 dB more transmitter power to achieve low bit error rates
 To summarize, a signal undergoes flat if

and

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 40

Frequency Selective Fading
 Due to time dispersion of the transmitted symbols within
the channel
 It may introduce an intersymbol interference (ISI)

 Viewed in the frequency domain, certain frequency

components in the received signal spectrum have greater
gains than others
 To summarized, a signal undergoes frequency selective
fading if

and

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 41

Fading Due to Doppler- Fast Fading & Slow Fading
 Fast fading
 The channel impulse response changes rapidly within the symbol
duration, i.e.,
Bs< BD and Ts>Tc
 This causes frequency dispersion (also called time selective
fading) due to Doppler Spreading, which leads to signal distortion

 Slow fading
 The channel impulse response changes at a rate much slower
than the transmitted baseband signal
Ts<<Tc and Bs>>BD

Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 42

Small-scale Fading – Influencing Factors
1. Multipath propagation
 Presence of reflecting objects and scatterers in the channels +
mobility creates constantly changing environment
 Can cause signal smearing due to intersymbol interference (ISI)

2. Speed of the mobile

 Results in random frequency modulation due to Doppler shifts on
each of the multipath components

3. Speed of surrounding objects

 If the surrounding objects move at a greater rate than the mobile,
then this effect dominates the small-scale fading
 This also happens even for when a mobile receiver is stationary

 A receiver moving at high speed can pass through several

fades in small period of time
Wireless Communications - Ch. 4 – Small-Scale Fading 43