4G Communications Based on High Altitude Stratospheric Platforms:
Channel Modeling and Performance Evaluation
Fabio Dovis, Roberto Fantini, Marina Mondin, Patrizia Savi
Dipartimento di Elettronica, Politecnico di Torino,
C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, Torino (Italy).
Abstract— In recent years a great interest has arisen toward
the development of High Altitude Platforms (HAPs), which are
low cost stratospheric aircrafts carrying payloads tailored for
a wide range of applications within telecommunications and
remote sensing. These platforms are able to fly at altitudes
ranging between 17 and 20 km, with a potential endurance of
weeks to months, features that make them attractive for the
provision of future personal communication services. This pa-
per deals with the theoretical derivation of a channel model
for the communication link between the platform and terres-
trial mobile users or stations. Small scale fading effects are
analyzed and due to the particular geometry of the propaga-
tion scenario, a specific model for the stratospheric channel is
obtained.
I. Introduction
Recently, for the design of fourth generation (4G) commu-
nication systems the possibility of employing High Altitude
Platforms (HAPs) has been considered as a valid alternative
to the traditional terrestrial or satellite based infrastructure
[1]-[3]. HAPs can be described as long endurance aerial plat-
forms, flying in the stratosphere at an altitude ranging be-
tween 17 and 20 km. The most promising telecommunication
applications taking advantage of the HAPs features are cel-
lular telephony, broadband LMDS services and possibility of
providing access to digital networks (Internet, ISDN). The ma-
jor advantages for the 4G systems integrating HAPs will be
the cost-effective coverage of rural and maritime regions, the
system flexibility due to the platforms’ mobility on demand
(e.g. emergency situations) and the possibility of payload up-
grading in order to reduce the risk of technology obsolescence
experienced with traditional satellites.
The most important projects in this field [4]-[7] address the
design of aerodynamic platforms, either fuel or solar powered
and the design of the application payloads. Research is very
active concerning the aeronautical aspects of HAPs, while up
to now the telecommunication and signal processing aspects
have been simply modeled after terrestrial or satellite sys-
tems. Little specific research has been devoted to identify the
transmission and data processing methods best suited to such
stratospheric stations.
In this paper we present a propagation model suited to the
stratospheric platform case, keeping in account the fading ef-
fects due to the presence of scatterers on the ground. Prop-
agation models have traditionally focused on describing both
the average path loss at a given distance from the transmitter,
as well as the rapid fluctuation that affects the received signal
strength while moving in a small area.
Small-scale or fading models characterize the rapid varia-
tions of the received power over very small travel distances (of
a few wavelengths) or short time durations (on the order of
seconds). Small scale fading occurs when the received signal
This work has been accomplished within the HeliNet research project (IST-
1999-11214) funded by the European Commission
0-7803-7206-9/01/$17.00 © 2001 IEEE
557
is the sum of different replicas of the same transmitted sig-
nal, that arrive to the receiver following different paths. As a
result, each replica has a random phase and arrives with a dif-
ferent delay: thus their sum may vary widely as the receiver is
moved of a small fraction of a wavelength. Moreover it is well
known that a signal received by a user moving at a certain
velocity v experiences a shift in the center frequency. This
change in frequency, known as the Doppler shift, is related
to the mobile velocity and the angle of arrival of the received
wave. When the received signal is the sum of different contri-
butions that followed different paths, each contribution comes
to the receiver with an arbitrary angle of arrival, thus expe-
riencing a different change in frequency. For this reason the
received signal level varies widely in time [9].
In Section II the small scale fading characteristics of the
platform channel are described. The power delay profile is
obtained on the basis of a theoretical model, presented for
ground link by Rappaport with Liberti [10] [11],which has
been modified in order to suit to the platform based system.
In Section III the coherence bandwidth and the coherence time
characterizing the stratospheric channel will be evaluated. As
far as the model of the Doppler spectrum is concerned, we will
refer to the results presented in [17].
In Section IV a simulation model of the stratospheric chan-
nel which can be used for the performance evaluation of trans-
mission schemes over the stratospheric link is introduced.
As an example, simulation results for a 4-DPSK modulation
scheme are presented in order to highlight the main features
of the stratospheric channel.
II. Small scale fading: Power Delay Profile and
Doppler Spectrum in a Platform Based System
It is well known that, as far as small scale fading aspects
are concerned, a mobile radio channel is characterized by the
Power delay profile and the Doppler spectrum. With the
growth of cellular and mobile communications, several the-
oretical and experimental models for the mobile radio channel
have been presented (see for example [12]-[14]). Usually, these
models and measurements deal with ground communication
systems, and with a still transmitter, usually a fixed antenna.
In this Section the small-scale characteristics of a channel in
a scenario where the transmitter is placed as payload of a
stratospheric platform are analyzed.
The Section is devoted to the study of the power delay pro-
file for a platform based system. Power delay profiles derived
from measures at ground level are in site specific and cannot
be adapted to the platform case. In order to find out a real-
istic power delay profile for the platform case, the analytical
model proposed by Rappaport with Liberti [10] [11], has been
extended to the platform case.
 z A reflected ray with an excess delay between 0 and τ must
Σ TX (0,0,z 0 )
r0













































































τ

) 



















A(z, 










S 


zs < h
(x 0,0,0)
RX
x Figure 1), and then by integrating this area with z varying
Fig. 1. The ellipsoid Σ containing scatterers that cause excess delays
lower than τ , and a scatterer S of height zs < h contained in the
ellipsoid. The area A(z, τ ) is the intersection of the ellipsoid Σ with a
plane parallel to x − y.
A. Extension of the Rappaport’s geometrical model to the plat-
form case
The geometrical model presented by Rappaport considers
a transmitter and a receiver having separation x0 . Scatterers
are assumed to lie in the horizontal plane which includes the
transmitter and a receiver. If a Line-Of-Sight (LOS) path
exists between the transmitter and the receiver, then the first
component of the total received signal will arrive with a path
delay t0 = x0 /c, where c is light speed. It is assumed that
scatterers are uniformly distributed in space and have equal
scattering cross sections. As noted in [16], all the scatterers
giving rise to single bounce echoes between time t0 and time
ti = t0 + τ (i.e all scatterers giving rise to echoes with excess
delay lower than τ ), lie in the region bounded by an ellipse.
As shown in [15], it is possible to find out an expression for
the cumulative distribution function (cdf) of the excess delay
τ , by introducing a maximum path delay, τm , which defines a
windows such that 0 ≤ τ < τm for all τ . The ratio of the area
of the ellipse corresponding to delay τ , A(τ ), to the area of
an ellipse corresponding to τm , A(τm ), leads to an expression
for the cdf FGS (τ ). By differentiating the cdf, the probability
density function (pdf) is obtained.
The same steps can be followed in the platform case. The
geometry of the system is more complex, because the receiver
and the transmitter are no longer on the same plane. In
this case the height of the transmitter must also be consid-
ered. Consider the receiver placed at a point RX of coordi-
nates (x0 ,0,0), while the transmitter is placed in TX p (0,0,z0 )
(Fig. 1). The direct transmission path is then r0 = x20 + z02 ,
which leads to a propagation delay τ0 = r0 /c. A reflected wave
impinging at the receiver with an excess delay τ must cover
a path length k = r0 + cτ . The set of points for which the
distance from the transmitter TX plus the distance from the
receiver RX is k is an ellipsoid Σ having TX and RX as foci.
be originated by a scatterer S inside the ellipsoid Σ: that is,
a wave traveling from the transmitter TX to the scatterer S,
impinges on the scatterer and is reflected toward the receiver,
covering a total path length shorter than k (see Fig. 1). How-
ever, it is reasonable that scatterers can be found only in a
thin layer close to the ground: scattered waves are mainly due
to high buildings, trees, poles, or hills, that cannot be found
above a certain height h. As a result, the volume V (τ ) con-
taining scatterers that cause a reflected wave with an excess
y
delay between 0 and τ is the intersection between the ellipsoid
Σ and the layer of height h. The volume V (τ ) is thus defined
as the set of points (x, y, z) that satisfy:
½ p p
(x − x0 )2 + y 2 + z 2 + x2 + y 2 + (z − z0 )2 < k(τ )
0<z<h
(1)
Starting from Eq. (1), it is possible to obtain the expression
of the volume V as a function of τ . In fact V (τ ) can be
calculated by evaluating the area A(z, τ ) of the ellipse due to
the intersection of the ellipsoid with a plane z = const (see
from 0 to h. Following the previous geometrical considerations
the volume V (τ ) can be given by:
· ¸
−πm(r0 + cτ ) 4 3 2
V (τ ) = p h − 2z 0 h − mh (2)
4 (z02 + m)3 3
where m = c2 τ 2 + 2r0 cτ .
As in the terrestrial case, the cdf of the excess delay can
be expressed as the ratio between the volume V (τ ) and the
volume that corresponds to the maximum excess delay of the
system, V (τm ):
V (τ )
FP S (τ ) = (3)
V (τm )
while the pdf can be found by differentiating (3):
1 dV
fP S (τ ) = (4)
V (τm ) dτ
Equations (3) and (4) require the knowledge of the maxi-
mum path delay τm . Even if values of τm for the GS based case
are well known, there are no measurements available for the
platform case. Estimated values of τm achieved with conven-
tional aircrafts are in the order of hundreds of nanoseconds,
which is considerably less than the GS based case [18].
For different values of x0 and h the shape of the distribution
changes as shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 3. In Fig. 2 are shown the
distributions of the delay for h = 21 m and x0 from 0 to 100
km with a step of 20 km, while Fig. 3 shows the dependence of
the distributions of the delay on h varying from 11 m to 51 m
with a step of 10 m for x0 = 40 km. Note that, in both cases,
the general shape of the distribution is maintained. In a first
order of approximation it is reasonable, in the development
of a channel model, to use one specific value for x0 and h
and consider the related curve as a general distribution of the
delay for the platform case.
The knowledge of the cdf of the excess delay allows to eval-
uate the average number of echoes n(τ ) having excess delay τ .
The power delay profile of the system, can then be obtained
as P (τ ) = n(τ )Ps (τ ) where Ps (τ ) is the power of a single echo
having excess delay τ . Fig. 4 shows the normalized power
delay profile obtained for the stratospheric channel.
558
 Distribution of the Delay Normalized Power Delay Profile
1 0
h= 21 m
-5
0.8

-10

0.6

P/PLOS [dB]
-15
F(τ)

0.4 -20

-25
x0= 0 km
0.2 x0= 100 km
-30

0 -35
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14
Excess Delay τ [µs] Excess Delay τ [µs]

Fig. 2. Delay’s distribution with τm = 0.150 µs, h = 21m and x0 Fig. 4. Normalized power delay profile for a platform based system.
varying from 0 to 100 km with step 20 km.
SCATTERING DIAGRAM OF XFRXR - SAMPLED AT 7
2

Distribution of the Delay

1.5
1

x0= 40 km 1

0.8 0.5
QUADRATURE

0.6 -0.5
F(τ)

-1

0.4
-1.5

h= 51 m -2
-2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
0.2 h= 1 m IN-PHASE

0 Fig. 5. Scattering diagram of the received signal, obtained over a

0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 frequency-flat Ricean channel with a C/M ratio of 18 dB.
Excess Delay τ [µs]

Fig. 3. Delay’s distribution with τm = 0.150 µs, x0 = 40km and h Spread fm is:
varying from 11 to 51 m with step 10 m.
f0
fm = fd,p + fd,u = [vp + vu ] = 222.16 Hz (6)
c
III. Coherence Bandwidth and Coherence Time of where f0 = 1.2 GHz is the carrier frequency taken as example.
the Platform Channel The value of fm leads to a coherence time Tc of:
Once the Power delay profile and the Doppler Spectrum of a 9
platform based system are obtained, the coherence bandwidth Tc = = 0.806 ms (7)
16πfm
and the coherence time of the channel can be evaluated. These
parameters allow to predict if the fading affecting the trans- Note that the platform channel, having a low delay spread
mission over the channel, will be selective or flat and fast or and thus a negligible dispersion in time, is selective only in the
slow respectively. case of wide band signals. On the other hand, the dispersion
From the power delay profile an rms delay spread στ = 21 ns in frequency is more severe than in usual transmission channel
has been obtained. It yields to a coherence bandwidth Bc because both the movement of the platform and of the mobile
equal to: contribute to the Doppler spread.
1
Bc = = 952.38 KHz (5)
50στ IV. Simulation Results
Assuming the speed of the platform vp = 150 km/h and On the basis of the model previously described, a simulation
the speed of the user vu = 50 km/h, the maximum Doppler model of the stratospheric channel has been developed, with

559
 SCATTERING DIAGRAM OF XFRXM - SAMPLED AT 7
2
BER for a 4-DPSK Modulation, with C/M=18 dB
1.5
1
AWGN Channel
freq.-flat Ricean Channel
1
0.1 Strat. channel, 0.25 Mb/s
Strat. channel, 1 Mb/s
0.5 Strat. channel, 4 Mb/s
0.01
QUADRATURE

0.001

BER
-0.5

-1 0.0001

-1.5
1e-05
-2
-2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
IN-PHASE
1e-06

1e-07
Fig. 6. Scattering diagram of the received signal, obtained over a with 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
a C/M ratio of 18 dB with bit rate 0.25 Mb/s.
Eb/N0 [dB]
~
n(t)
Fig. 8. BER for a 4-DPSK transmission scheme obtained over AWGN,
frequency-flat Ricean and stratospheric channel with a C/M ratio of
~
x(t) ~
y(t) 18 dB, at a bit rate of 0.25, 1, 4 Mb/s.

τ0
~
r0(t) P0
τi
~
ri (t) Pi
τN
r~N (t) PN
Fig. 7. A diagram of the simulation model used for a fast and flat
fading channel, in the case a LOS path is present. x̃(t) is the complex
envelope of the input signal, τi and Pi are the excess delays and power
attenuations given by the power delay profile, r̃i (t) are unitary power
fading processes and ñ(t) represents the white noise process.
the purpose of testing the effects on the physical layer of the
communication links.
The transmitted signal is split into several branches, each
branch representing a cluster of echoes arriving at the receiver
in an interval around an excess delay τi . Each branch car-
ries an amount of power given by the power delay profile. If
echoes in the cluster are separated by a delay much lower
than the duration of a transmitted symbol, each branch will
undergo to a flat (but potentially fast) fading. Dispersion in
time is therefore introduced only by the presence of several
branches. LOS transmission can be usually achieved from
the platform, so that reliable simulation results can be ob-
tained by the model represented in Figure 7; different C/M
ratios between the power carried by the LOS path (C) and the
multipaths (M) can be achieved according to the propagation
scenario.
A finite number N of replicas of the input signal x̃(t) is
produced, each replica is delayed of τi by a delay block, then
the fast fading effect is introduced by multiplying for a unitary
√ The BER curves obtained for an AWGN channel, are com-
power fading process r̃i (t), the signal is then attenuated of Pi
accordingly to the power delay profile. White gaussian noise
ñ(t) is finally added to the received signal.
Note that this model requires to discretize the power delay
profile, in order to obtain a discrete number N of delays τi and
gain factors Pi . A discrete version of the power delay profile
can be used as long as the bandwidth of the transmitted signal
is not greater than 1/(2∆τ ), being ∆τ the time step between
τi and τi+1 .
As an example of the effects of the transmission over the
stratospheric channel, Figures 5 and 6 depict the scattering
diagram of the sampled received signal obtained using respec-
tively a frequency-flat Ricean model and the stratospheric
model, for a 4-DPSK transmission scheme at a bit rate of
0.25 Mb/s. The time varying process can produce deep fad-
ing, corresponding to the case in which the interfering rays
are destructive and in phase with each others. Both the dia-
grams show a phase shift of the overall constellation, and that
the points of the received constellation move in a wide area,
thus strongly worsening the performance of the transmission
system.
In Figure 8 is reported the BER estimated for the 4-DPSK
scheme using a frequency-flat Ricean model and the strato-
spheric model for a C/M ratio of 18 dB at a bit rate of 0.25,
1 and 4 Mb/s, compared to the BER obtained for an AWGN
channel. It is shown that for a bit rate of 0.25 and 1 Mb/s
the curves obtained with the stratospheric model substan-
tially overlap with the curves obtained with the frequency-flat
Ricean model, while for a bit rate of 4 Mb/s the curve shifts to
the right. This value of bit rate corresponds to a bandwidth
of about 2MHz, that is greater than the coherence bandwidth
of the platform Bc = 952.38 KHz, found in Eq. (5): the chan-
nel becomes selective in frequency and the performance of the
system are worse; however, being the C/M ratio very high,
the worsening is limited.
The effects of multipath become more evident when the
C/M ratio is reduced to 6 dB, as in the case of Figure 9.
pared with the frequency-flat Ricean and with the strato-
spheric channel model for a bit rate of 0.25, 1 and 4 Mb/s.

560
 BER for a 4-DPSK Modulation, with C/M=6 dB V. Conclusions
1 In this paper the theoretical derivation of a channel model
AWGN Channel
freq.-flat Ricean Channel for the communication link between High Altitude Platforms
0.1 Strat. channel, 0.25 Mb/s (HAPs) and terrestrial users or ground stations is presented.
Strat. channel, 1 Mb/s In particular, small scale fading effects are considered and
Strat. channel, 4 Mb/s
0.01 the model by Rappaport and Liberti extended to the strato-
spheric channel scenario. The power delay profile is derived in
0.001
order to evaluate the coherence bandwith of the stratospheric
channel. Simulation results show the dispersive effects of the
BER

channel and demonstrate that generic models of the channel

0.0001
not considering multipath effects of scatterers on the ground
(i.e. frequency-flat Ricean channel) can yield to too optimistic
1e-05 results. Besides, the novel model presented in this paper can
be essential for the design of future communication systems
1e-06 based on the use of HAPs.

1e-07 References
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In Table I, the values of signal-to-noise ratio (Eb /N0 ) nec-
essary to achieve a Bit Error Rate of 10−4 are reported. Note
that in this case the frequency-flat Ricean model does not
depend on the bit rate because the coherence time Tc of the
channel is always largely greater than the symbol duration, be-
ing Tc = 0.806 ms, while for a bit rate of 0.25, 1 and 4 Mb/s
the symbol duration with a 4-DPSK modulation is respec-
tively 8 µs, 2 µs and 0.5 µs. It has to been remarked that,
in order to observe the complete trend of the fading process,
the results have been obtained observing the behaviour of the
system along a period of time greater than the coherence time
Tc of the fading process.

561