Fading Channel Characteristics

A fading channel is characterized by several parameters.

• Delay Spread :-In multipath channel, the signal power at the receiver spreads over
a certain range of time. The delay of the ith signal component in excess of the
delay of the first arriving component is called excess delay, denoted τi.
−
¾ Since τ is a random variable, we define mean excess delay, τ as average of
excess delay
¾ The square root of the variance of excess delay is called rms excess delay, στ.
¾ Excess delay spread (X dB ) is defined as the longest time delay during which
multipath energy falls to X dB below the maximum. In other words, the
maximum excess delay is defined as τx-τ0, where τ0 is the delay of the 1st arriving
component and τx is the maximum delay at which a multipath component is with
in X dB of the strongest signal which need not necessarily be the first arriving
signal.

10
RMS delay spread=46.40 ns
Normalized Received Power (dB Scale)

Excess delay spread (10dB)=84 ns

-10

-20

Mean excess delay=45.05 ns

-30
-50 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Excess delay (ns)

∑a τ
− k
2
k ∑ P (τ )τ
k k
Mean Excss Delay, τ= k
= k

∑a k
k
2
∑ P (τ )
k
k

∑a τ 2 2
∑ P (τ )τ 2

(τ ())
− k k k k
2
RMS Delay Spread, σ τ = 2
− τ where, τ 2
= k
= k

∑a k
k
2
∑ P (τ )
k
k

1
 • Coherence Bandwidth:-It is defined as the range of frequencies over which the
channel can be considered Flat, meaning the channel can pass all spectral
components with approximately equal gain and equal phase. Frequency
components in this bandwidth have a strong correlation in amplitude, hence the
name coherence bandwidth.

The envelope correlation coefficient of two signals separated by ∆f Hz and ∆t seconds as

J 0 2 ( 2π f m ∆t )
ρ ( ∆f , ∆t ) = (1)
1 + ( 2π ∆f ) σ τ 2
2

where J0(.) is the zeroth order Bessel function of the first kind and fm= vfc/c is the
maximum Doppler shift for a velocity of v. If ∆t =0,

J 02 ( 0) 1
ρ ( ∆f , 0 ) = = (2)
1 + ( 2π ∆f ) σ τ 2 1 + ( 2π ∆f ) σ τ 2
2 2

Let the frequency separation ∆f =BC, then from (2)

1 1 − ρ ( BC , 0)
BC = (3)
2πσ τ ρ ( BC , 0)

Where ρ ( BC , 0) is called frequency correlation coefficient between the signals

separated by frequency BC. Generally we take ρ ( BC , 0) =0.5, then BC becomes,

1 1 − 0.5
BC =
2πσ τ 0.5
(4)
1
=
2πσ τ
If we take ρ ( BC , 0) =0.9,
1 1 − 0.9
BC =
2πσ τ 0.9
1
=
6πσ τ

• Doppler spread:- It is a measure of spectral broadening caused by relative

movement of mobile and base station, or by the movement of objects in the

2
 channel. Doppler spread is equal to the maximum Doppler frequency. The total
bandwidth of the received signal is determined by the bandwidth of the signal and
Doppler spread.
• Coherence time:-It is the estimate of at what transmitted signal duration distortion
becomes noticeable. It is defined as the time difference between two signals with
the same frequency, whose envelope correlation is 0.5, i.e.,

From (1) ,we have

J 0 2 ( 2π f m ∆t )
ρ ( ∆f , ∆t ) =
1 + ( 2π ∆f ) σ τ 2
2

putting ∆f =0

ρ ( 0, ∆t ) = J 0 2 ( 2π f m ∆t )

Let the time separation ∆t=TC

ρ ( 0, TC ) = J 0 2 ( 2π f m TC )

The coherence time is the time separation when ρ (0, TC ) = 0.5

From Bessel Function Table,

9 9
TC ≈ = (5)
16π f m 16π BD

Some authors simply use more coarse estimate, that is

1
TC ≈ (6)
BD
A popular rule of thumb for modern digital communications defines TC as geometric
mean of (5 )and (6)

9
TC = (7)
16π BD 2

Channel classification

The channel classification is done using the above-mentioned parameters,

i. Frequency Flat fading:-Also called frequency nonselective fading

3
 It is characterized by

BC>>BS
or equivalently στ<<TS

where, BS is the signal bandwidth and Ts is the symbol period of the signal .

ii. Frequency Selective fading:-Also called time dispersive fading

It is characterized by

BC<BS
or equivalently στ>TS

iii. Slow fading:- Also called time Flat fading

It is characterized by

TS<<TC
or equivalently
BS>>BD

The channel impulse response can be considered static over one or several symbol
durations.

iv. Fast fading:- Also called time selective fading

It is characterized by

TS>TC
or equivalently
BS<BD

The channel impulse response changes fastly (time variant) within one symbol
duration.

4
The figure above shows the classification of channels. The shaded region is the
forbidden region due to uncertainty principle, which states that the duration
bandwidth product of any signal cannot be less than 1/4π.

From this classification it is obvious that wideband communications systems are

normally affected by frequency selective fading, which appears in high rate digital
systems as intersymbol interference. Narrowband systems encounter frequency flat
characteristic, and mainly suffer from time-selective fading.

Example:

In the DCS 1800 cellular system the duration of a transmitted burst is 577 µS and the
bandwidth of the signal is B=200kHz.In a macrocell the delay spread is 5 µS and the
speed of the mobile station is 100km/h.in a microcell the delay spread is 1.5 µS and
and the speed of mobile station is 5km/h.and in a picocell the delay spread is 0.1 µS
and the speed of the mobile is 1km/h.

Classify the channel in the different environments.

Solution:
In a macrocell:

100
× 1.8 × 109
v fc
BD= = 3.6 = 16.67 Hz
C 3 × 108

Bs=200kHz
1 1
BC = = = 32 kHz
2πσ τ 2π × 5µ S

5
Ts=577 µS

9 9
TC = = = 25.38 ms
16π BD 16π (16.67 )
2 2

The DCS 1800 macrocell channel is thus frequency selective but time-flat during one
burst.

In a microcell:

5
× 1.8 × 109
v f c 3.6
BD= = = 0.8335 Hz
C 3 × 108

Bs=200kHz
1 1
BC = = = 106.6 kHz
2πσ τ 2π × 1.5µ S

Ts=577 µS

9 9
TC = = = 507.66 ms
16π BD 16π ( 0.8335 )
2 2

The DCS 1800 microcell channel is thus frequency selective but time-flat during one
burst.

In a picocell:

1
× 1.8 × 109
v f c 3.6
BD= = = 0.1667 Hz
C 3 × 108

Bs=200kHz
1 1
BC = = = 1592 kHz
2πσ τ 2π × 0.1 µ S

Ts=577 µS

9 9
TC = = = 2538 ms
16π BD 16π ( 0.1667 )
2 2

6
The DCS 1800 picocell channel is thus frequency selective but time-flat during one
burst

Statistics of Fading Channels

i. Large Scale Fading

The path loss models in wireless communications are only valid for predicting the
average level of received signal, the variations around this average due to multipath
fading have to be considered separately.

Large-scale fading m(t) (which is also called slow fading) corresponds to the
variation of the average over a distance of few meters and is mainly caused by terrain
configuration and the built environment between the transmitter and receiver station.
In radio propagation from transmitter to receiver several multiplicative random
processes act on the signal in sequence. Thus in dB scale the random gains are
assumed. The sum of several random variables tends towards Gaussian distribution in
dB scale (Central limit theorem), which corresponds to lognormal distribution of the
received level in the linear scale. Typically large scale fading (shadowing) can be
well approximated as lognormal distribution, so that the envelope of the received
signal in dB follows Gaussian distribution.

Generally, if a random variable X has Gaussian distribution with mean mx and

variance σx2 , then random variable Y=eX has lognormal PDF.

1  ( ln ( y ) − m )2 
exp  −  , for y ≥ 0
x
pY ( y ) =
y 2π σ x  2σ x 2

 

The mean value and mean squared value of Y can be found from the mean and
variance of X as follows

σ x2
E[Y ] = exp(mx + )
2
E[Y 2 ] = exp(2mx + 2σ x 2 )

in dB scale

20 log( E[Y ]) = 2amx + aσ x 2

10 log( E[Y 2 ]) = 2amx + 2aσ x 2

where a=10 log(e)

Thus the PDF of large scale fading L in dB has simple Gaussian PDF

7
 1  ( L − mL )2 
p ( L) = exp  − 
2π σ L  2σ L 2 

where L, the average attenuation at a specific distance mL as well as the standard

deviation of the average attenuation σL are expressed in decibels. Thus the probability
that the received average signal level will be below L can be calculated as,

1 1  L − mL 
P (l ≤ L) = + erf  
2 2  2 σL 
The probability that the received signal level exceeds L can be calculated as

1  L − mL 
P (l > L) = 1 − erf   
2   2 σL  

When the measured sector averages are plotted in dB versus distance from the base
station on a logarithmic scale, the deviation of the sector average from the mean value
(average received power) is typically found to have a Gaussian distribution in dB
scale.
Level [dBm]

.
.. .
. .
-50 ............... . ... . .
. .. ........ . .. .
.. .. ... ....... . . . .
. . .. . .. ..................... .. ... ..
-60 . . .. ..................................... .... .
.
.. . . ............................................ .. .
-70 . . . ... ........................................... .. .. .
. . ......................... .... . .
. .. ..... ............. . . .. .
. . ... .................................................... . .. . ..
. . ........... ............... . .. .
-80 . . ... . ................................................ ........
.. . . . .. .................................... . .. .
. . ...................................................... .... .
. .. ... . . .............. ................. .
-90 . . ................................ ......... ....... . .. .
. ....... . .. ............................... . ....
.. .. ............. .. .
......... ................................................... .....
. ............ .................................... .......
-100 .......... .. . ............................. . . .
. . .. ... . . .. .......... .. ... . .
. . ..
.. ........... .................................. ...... ... .
-110 ........................................... . . ...
. ... .... .... ... ............ . .
..... . . ........... .. ..
... .. . .... ................
-120 .. .. . . .
... .
. ..

0.1 1 10
Distance [km]

ii. Small Scale Fading

Small-scale fading is the rapid fluctuation of the received level over a short distance.
This is caused by interference between several versions of the transmitted signal,
which arrive at the MS antenna with different delays.

8
Small-scale fading is mainly caused by multipath reflections of a transmitted wave by
local scatterers such as houses, buildings and other human – built structures, or by
nearby natural obstacles such as forest surrounding a mobile station. It describes the
fading of the received envelope within spatial length of 20 to 40 wavelengths, where
the sector average or shadowing characteristics are almost constant. The envelope of
the small scale fading received signal follows typically Rayleigh or Rician
distribution.

Rayleigh Fading Model

A Receiver station does not receive only one attenuated version of the transmitted
signal, but a number of copies of the transmitted signal, that are reflected and
diffracted by buildings and other scatterers. In phasor terms, the observed received
phasor is vector sum of several phasors, with the phase of each varying individually
and randomly over the range [0, 2 π ]. Even with only a few paths of roughly equal
intensity contributing, central limit theorem argument leads to the conclusion that
the received waveform has the characteristics of a band pass stationary Gaussian
noise. Thus, the PDFs of the in-phase and quadrature components of the received
signal are Gaussian with zero mean and identical variances due to the central limit
theorem, and the PDF of its envelope has Rayleigh distribution.

r
2
−r
p (r ) = e 2σ 2
, for r ≥ 0
σ 2

where σ2 is the variance of the in-phase and quadrature components.

The following figure illustrates the Rayleigh PDF.

9
 The mean, mean square and standard deviation of r are:

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
r2
2 2
r −r −r
E[ R ] = ∫ r p ( r ) dr = ∫ r p ( r ) dr = ∫ r e 2σ 2
dr = ∫ e 2σ 2
dr
0 0 0 σ 2
0 σ 2

∞
r2 −r
2

= 2∫ e 2σ 2
dr
0 2σ 2
r
put =y ⇒ dr = 2 σ dy
2σ
∞
π π
∴ E[ R] = 2 2 σ ∫ y 2 e − y dy = 2 2 σ ×
2
= σ
0
4 2

∴ E[ R] = π σ
2

10
 ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
r r3
2 2
−r −r
E[ R ] = ∫ r p ( r ) dr = ∫ r p ( r ) dr = ∫ r
2 2 2 2
e 2σ 2
dr = ∫ e 2σ 2
dr
0 0 0 σ 2
0 σ 2

∞
r3 − r
2

= 2∫ e 2σ 2
dr
0 2σ 2
r
put =y ⇒ dr = 2 σ dy
2σ
∞

∫yy e
2 − y2
∴ E[ R] = 2 2 σ 2 σ dy
0
∞

∫y e
3 − y2
= 4σ 2
dy
0

Γ ( 3 + 1) / 2 
= 4σ 2
2
Γ [ 2]
= 4σ 2
2
( 2 − 1)!
= 4σ 2
2
∴ E[ R2 ] = 2σ 2

π π
Standard deviation, σ R = E[ R 2 ] − E[ R]2 = 2σ 2 − σ2 =σ 2−
2 2

∴ σR = 2−π σ
2
The Rayleigh cdf is given by
2 2
F ( r ) = 1 − e − r / 2σ , for r ≥ 0

The probability of the envelope R of the received signal exceeding a given limit r as
2 2
P ( R > r ) = e − r / 2σ , for r ≥ 0

r2 10 3 -10 -20
[dB]
2σ 2
P(R>r) ≈ 0% 13.6 % 90.5 % 99.0 %

The 1% and 99% levels of Rayleigh fading are separated by 26 dB.

11
 P ( R ≤ r1 ) = F (r1 ) = 1 − e − r1
2
/ 2σ 2
= 1%

P ( R ≤ r2 ) = F (r2 ) = 1 − e− r2
2
/ 2σ 2
= 99%

r1
⇒ = 0.0467 = 26.6 dB
r2

Rician Fading Model

When there is a dominant path (line of sight), the in-phase and quadrature
components of the received signal do not have any more zero mean, even though they
still have identical variances. Thus, the received signal consists of a fixed component
and a Rayleigh fading component. In this case, the PDF of the envelope of the
received signal has Rician distribution.

r 2 + A2
r −  Ar 
p(r ) = e 2σ 2
Io  2  , for r ≥ 0
σ 2
σ 

Where σ2 is the variance of the in-phase and quadrature components, A is the

amplitude of the signal of the dominant path and Io is the zero order modified Bessel
function of the first kind. The following figure illustrates the Rician PDF for different
ratios K of the power in the dominant path to the power of the scattered paths.
K = A2 / 2σ 2

12
If there is no dominant path, A=0,Io (0)=1 and the Rician PDF reduces to Rayleigh
PDF. When A is large compared with σ, the distribution is approximately Gaussian.

K = −∞ dB (Rayleigh)

K = 6 dB

K >> 1 (Gaussian)

Thus, since Rician distribution covers also Gaussian and Rayleigh distribution,
mathematically the Rician fading channel can be considered to be the general case.

The Rician cdf takes the relatively complicated form

r 2 + A2 ∞ k
−  A  Ar 
F (r ) = 1− e 2σ 2
∑   Ik  2  ,
k =0  r  σ 
for r ≥ 0

Where Ik is the kth-order modified Bessel function of the first kind.

Normally the dominant path, significantly reduces the depth of fading, and in terms of
BER Rician fading provides a superior performance to Rayleigh fading. The
probability of having line of sight (LOS) component depends on the size of the cell.
The smaller the cell, the higher the probability of having LOS path.

If we assume the ratio K of the power in the dominant path to the power of the
scattered path has a value of 4,we can calculate the probability of the envelope R of
the received signal exceeding a given limit r from the Rician cdf.
A2 + r 2 10 3 -10 -20
[dB]
2σ 2
P(R>r) 6.65 % 85.25 % 99.79 % 99.98 %

13
 When we have dominant path present in the received signal ,the phase of the complex
envelope of the received signal is no more uniformly distributed, but more
concentrated around the phase of the dominant component.

Large cells with radius of several kilometers typically exhibit Rayleigh fading.
Smaller cells of some 1-2 km radius exhibit either Rayleigh fading or Rician fading
with low values of K. For microcells with radius of only couple of hundreds of meter
K can vary widely, but it is usually above 5 and values up to 30 are not uncommon.

Computational Channel Models

The performance analysis of wideband communications systems requires a statistical

model and computer simulation to regenerate the channel profiles at different receiving
locations. A statistical model of the channel should compress all the measured data into a
few statistical parameters, which can be used in a simulation program to regenerate a
similar set of channel profiles on a computer. In wideband measurements the channel can
be represented by either the time-domain or frequency-domain response. Time-domain
statistical models for wideband radio propagation are the most popular methods for
computer simulation of indoor and outdoor radio propagation for mobile users. The
standards for cellular mobile systems usually include a simple generalized time-domain
wideband statistical model for simulation of the propagation, and through it for
evaluation of receiver performance.

i. Gaussian Channel

The additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel is the simplest practical
mathematical model for describing any communications channel. Basically it models
only the noise that is generated at the receiver. Mathematically this model is based on the
following assumptions about the ideal transmission path:

14
 1. The channel bandwidth is unlimited (much greater than signal bandwidth)

2. The attenuation of channel α is time-invariant and constant over all frequencies of

interest

3. The channel delays the signal by a constant amount t0.

4. The channel adds zero-mean bandpass white Gaussian noise n(t) to the
transmitted signal. This noise is uncorrelated with the transmitted signal.

The first assumptions indicate that the channel is distortionless over the message
bandwidth W.

The lowpass equivalent response y (t) of AWGN channel for lowpass equivalent
transmitted signal x(t) is given by

y(t) = αx(t-t0) + n(t),

where n(t) is the complex envelope of bandpass white noise.

so that the lowpass equivalent impulse response of the channel is

h(t) = αδ(t-t0).

The pure delay t0 can be neglected, since it does not affect the system performance in
terms of bit error rate (BER). Also the attenuation α can be left out from the model, since
we use the channel model for estimating BER as a function of signal-to-noise ratio
(SNR), and we can change mathematically equivalently the SNR by adjusting noise
power instead of attenuating transmitted signal.

Gaussian Noise

Transmitted Received Signal

Signal
+
The importance of Gaussian channel lies in the fact, that it provides an upper bound for
performance of (mobile) communications system. When we evaluate complicated
receiver structures utilizing equalization, diversity, channel coding, interleaving and other
techniques to combat multipath fading, we can compare the performance of such a
receiver to the BER in Gaussian channel.

15
ii. Rayleigh Fading Channel

The complex envelope impulse response of the frequency- flat Rayleigh fading channel
consists of a single impulse, whose weight has Rayleigh pdf. This occurs, when all
multipath components of the received signal manifest themselves as a group with
negligible delay spread between them.

Mathematically a random signal with Rayleigh distributed magnitude and uniformly

distributed phase can be generated by generating its real and imaginary parts from two
independent Gaussian noise sources, which have zero mean and identical variance. The
average gain of the channel is determined by the variance of noise sources, since the rms
value value of the Rayleigh distributed envelope is 2σ , where σ is the standard
deviation of its Gaussian components.

Gaussian Gaussian
Noise Source Noise Source
j
Gaussian Noise

+ ×
Received
Transmitted
× + Signal
Signal

When we want to introduce the Doppler shift due to the movement of the mobile station,
we have to introduce Doppler filters after each Gaussian noise source of the channel tap
model. The frequency response of these filters is

A
H ( f )= 2
 f 
1−  
 fm 

When the outputs of white Gaussian noise sources are filtered with identical linear time-
invariant filters, the outputs of the filters are still Gaussian and they still have identical
variances. Thus, the channel filter tap has still Rayleigh amplitude distribution and
uniform phase distribution, but now its power spectral density (psd) is the psd of the
Doppler filter.

16
 White Gaussian White Gaussian
Noise Source Noise Source

Doppler Doppler
Filter Filter
j
Gaussian Noise

+ ×
Transmitted Received
× + Signal
Signal

iii. Rician Channel

The only difference between a frequency-flat Rayleigh fading channel and a frequency-
flat Rician fading channel is the introduction of the dominant path. The dominant path is
also affected by the Doppler shift. The Doppler shift fD of the dominant path must be
between –fm and +fm, where fm is the maximum Doppler frequency determined by carrier
frequency and mobile speed. If the maximum Doppler frequency is changed, both the
Doppler filter and the dominant path components are changed in the model.

The addition of the component Ae j2πα f t changes the distribution of the envelope from
m

Rayleigh to Rician, as well as introducing an impulse function into the psd at f=fD

17
 White White
Gaussian Gaussian
Noise Source Noise Source

Doppler Doppler
Filter Filter
j Gaussian
Noise

+ ×
j 2πα f mt
Ae +
Transmitted Received
× + Signal
Signal

The parameter K of Rician distribution ,i.e. the ratio of the power in the dominant
path to the power of the scattered paths,can be calculated from the mean square value
of the component Ae j2πα f t to the mean square value of the Rayleigh fading model.
m

18