402081DIGITAL

MOBILE
COMMUNICATIONS
CHAPTER 2: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MOBILE
RADIO ENVIRONMENT
 OBJECTIVES

◼ Understand the definition of the free-space

propagation.
◼ Understand the characterization of the
random channel.
◼ Understand the methods for fading mitigation

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 CHAPTER 2:CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE MOBILE RADIO ENVIRONMENT
2.1. Review of free-space propagation
2.2. Wireless case
2.3. Random channel characterization
2.4. Multipath and frequency-selective fading
2.5. Fading mitigation techniques

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 REVIEW OF FREE-SPACE
PROPAGATION
▪ Radio propagation Effects
Building

Direct Signal

hb Reflected Signal
Diffracted
Signal hm

d
Transmitter Receiver

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 REVIEW OF FREE-SPACE
PROPAGATION
◼ Free-space Propagation
  
2

PR = GR GT PT  
 4 d 
hb

hm

Transmitter Distance d
Receiver
The received signal power at the distance d:
where Pt is transmitting power, GT, GR are the transmit and
received antenna gain. Assuming that the radiated power is
uniformly distributed over the surface of the sphere.

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 REVIEW OF FREE-SPACE
PROPAGATION
◼ Path Loss (Free-space):
◼ Definition of path loss LP :
Pt
LP = ,
Pr
◼ Path Loss in Free-space:
LPF (dB)= 92.45+ 20log10 f c (GHz)+ 20log10 d(km),

where fc is the carrier frequency.

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 REVIEW OF PATH-LOSS
MODELLING
◼ Simplified Path-loss model:
◼ Used when path loss dominated by reflections.
◼ Most important parameter is the path loss
exponent \gamma, determined empirically.

 d0 
−1
Pr = Pt K   , 2 8
d 
 4 d 0 
2

K = 
  
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 EXAMPLE
◼ Under the free-space path-loss model, find the transmit power
required to obtain a received power of 1 dBm for a wireless
system with isotropic antennas (G = 1) and a carrier frequency f
= 5 GHz, assuming a distance d = 10 m. Repeat for d = 100 m
◼ Consider a receiver with noise power −190 dBm within the
signal bandwidth of interest. Assume a simplified path-loss
model with d0 = 1m, K obtained from the free-space path-loss
formula with omnidirectional antennas and fc = 1 GHz, and γ =
4. For a transmit power of Pt = 10 mW, find the maximum
distance between the transmitter and receiver such that the
received signal-to-noise power ratio is 20 dB.

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 CHAPTER 2:CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE MOBILE RADIO ENVIRONMENT
2.1. Review of free-space propagation
2.2. Wireless case
2.3. Random channel characterization
2.4. Multipath and frequency-selective fading
2.5. Fading mitigation techniques

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 WIRELESS CASE

▪ Fading:
▪ Large-scale fading (shadowing):
Long term variation in the mean signal level
caused by the mobile unit moving into the shadow
of surrounding objects.
▪ Small-scale fading (multipath):
Short term fluctuation in the signal amplitude
caused by the local multipath

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 WIRELESS CASE

◼ Shadow Fading:
Consider the signal power equation in dB.
PR,dB = 10log10 α 2 + x +10log10 g(d)+ PT,dB +10log10GT G R

The shadow-fading random variable x, measured in

dB is taken to be a zero-mean Gaussian random
variable with variance δ2 2 x
-
2σ 2
e
f(x)=
2πσ 2
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 WIRELESS CASE
PR,dB = 10log10 α 2 + x +10log10 g(d)+ PT,dB +10log10GT G R
PR,dB  10log10 α 2 + pdB

Ignoring the multipath effect, α:

P R,dB = 10log10 g(d)+ PT,dB +10log10 GT G R
The term pdB is the local-mean power modelled as
a Gaussian random variable with average value P R,dB
 2
The pdf for pdB is  dB − P

p 
R , dB 
−
e 2 2
f ( pdB ) =
2 2
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 WIRELESS CASE

◼ Typical value of δ range from 6 to 10dB.

◼ Shadowing complicates cellular planning.
◼ To fully predict shadowing effect, up-to-date and
highly detailed terrain data bases are needed.
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 EXAMPLE
◼ Find the outage probability at 150 m for a channel
based on the combined path loss and shadowing
models, assuming a transmit power of Pt = 10 mW
and minimum power requirement of Pmin = −110.5
dBm. Path-loss model is simplified path-loss model
with \gamma = 3.71, \sigma^2 = 13.29 dBm, fc =
900 MHz

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 EXAMPLE
(
 x − P R ,dBm
) 
2

exp  − 
 2 dB
2 
◼ We have  F  x − P R ,dBm 
f pdBm ( x ) = = 1− Q  
2 dB
2 pdBm
  dB 

 x − P R ,dBm 
◼ So OP = Pr  pdBm  −110.5 = FpdBm ( −110.5 ) = 1 − Q  
  dBm 

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 EXAMPLE

    d 
10 ( t , mW )
d
P R ,dBm = 10 log10  Pt ,mW K −1  0   = 10 log P − 10 log10 ( K ) − 10 10 log10  
 d    0
d
◼ .  
 4 d 0  d 
2

= 10 log10 ( Pt ,mW ) − 10 log10   − 10 10 log10  

    0
d
 4 
= 10 log10 (10 ) − 20 log10   − 10 log10 ( d )
 c / fc 
= 10 − 31.53 − 80.73 = −102.26
 x − P R ,dBm 
OP = Pr  pdBm  −110.5 = FpdBm ( −110.5 ) = 1 − Q  
  dBm 
 −110.5 − ( −102.26 ) 
= 1− Q   = 1 − Q ( −2.26 ) = 0.0119
 13.29 

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 EXAMPLE
◼ Consider a cellular system operating at 900MHz where
propagation follows free-space path loss with variations
about this path loss due to log-normal shadowing with σ = 6
dB. Suppose that for acceptable voice quality a signal-to-
noise power ratio of 15 dB is required at the mobile. Assume
the base station transmits at 1W and that its antenna has a
3-dB gain. There is no antenna gain at the mobile, and the
receiver noise in the bandwidth of interest is −70 dB. Find the
maximum cell size such that a mobile on the cell boundary
will have acceptable voice quality 90% of the time.

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 EXAMPLE
Pr◼SNR
.  dB   15  dB  = 0.9  Pr SNR  dBm  45  dBm
= Pr SNR  dBm  = S  dBm  − N  dBm   45  dBm  = Pr S  dBm   45  dBm  + N  dBm 
= Pr S  dBm   −25  dBm  = 1 − Pr S  dBm   −25  dBm  = 1 − FS ( −55  dB ) = 0.9
 −55 − P R ,dB ( d )  −55 − P R ,dB ( d ) −55 − P R ,dB ( d )
= Q  = 0.9  = −1.28  = −1.28
  dB  dB  dB
 
= −55 − P R ,dB ( d ) = −7.68  P R ,dB ( d ) = −47.3 dB 
 P R ,dBm ( d ) = −17.3  dB   P R ,mW ( d ) = 10−17.3/10 = 0.0185  mW 

  
2 2
 c / fc  0.0014 1.4
P R ,W = PT ,W GT GR   = 1* 2*   =  
W  P R , mW = 2 
mW 
 4 d   4 d 
2
d d

1.4 1.4
0.0185 = 2
 d = = 8.7  m
d 0.0185
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 EXAMPLE
◼ Consider a cellular system where the received signal power is distributed
according to a log-normal distribution with mean μ dBm and standard
deviation σψ dBm. Assume the received signal power must be above 10
dBm for acceptable performance.
◼ (a) What is the outage probability when the log-normal distribution has μψ =
15 dBm and σψ = 8 dBm?
◼ (b) For σψ = 4 dBm, find the value of μψ required for the outage probability to
be less than 1% – a typical value for cellular systems.
◼ (c) Repeat part (b) for σψ = 12 dBm.
◼ (d) One proposed technique for reducing outage probability is to use
macrodiversity, where a mobile unit’s signal is received by multiple base
stations and then combined. This can only be done if multiple base stations
are able to receive a given mobile’s signal, which is typically the case for
CDMA systems. Explain why this might reduce outage probability
𝑥−𝜇
Hint: Use Q function 𝐹 𝑥 =1−𝑄
𝜎

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 CHAPTER 2:CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE MOBILE RADIO ENVIRONMENT
2.1. Review of free-space propagation
2.2. Wireless case
2.3. Multipath and frequency-selective fading
2.4. Fading mitigation techniques

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING
◼ Multipath Fading:
◼ A small scale fading that describes short-term,
rapid amplitude fluctuations of the received
signal during a short period of time.
◼ The actual power received over a much smaller
distance vary considerably due to the
destructive/constructive interference of multiple
signals that follow multiple paths to the receiver.

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING
▪ The direct ray is actually made up of many rays due
to scattering multiple times by obstructions along its
path, all travelling about the same distance.

▪ Each of these rays appearing at the receiver will

differ randomly in amplitude and phase due to the
scattering.

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING

23/09/2016 402081-Chpter 2: Characteristics of the mobile radio environment 23

 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING
◼ Flat fading:
◼ The delay spread is small compared to the
symbol period.
◼ The received signal envelope, r, follows a
Rayleigh or Rician distribution.
Pr (dB) = Pr (dB) + Gs + 20 log r

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING

Received
Signal
Power
(dB)
path loss
shadowing

fading

log (distance)

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING
◼ Slow fading:
The long-term variation in the mean level is known as slow
fading (shadowing or log-normal fading). This fading caused
( )
2
by shadowing. M -M
1
( )
-
Log-normal distribution: 2σ 2
p M = e ,
2πσ

where M is the true received signal level m in decibels, i.e.,

10log10m, M is the area average signal level, i.e., the mean of M,
 is the standard deviation in decibels

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING

2

p(M)

M
M

The pdf of the received signal level

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING
▪ Fast fading:
◼ The signal from the transmitter may be reflected from
objects such as hills, buildings, or vehicles.
◼ When MS far from BS, the envelope distribution of
received signal is Rayleigh distribution. The pdf is
r2
− 2
p(r ) =
r
e 2
, r 0
 2

where  is the standard deviation.

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING
◼ Middle value rm of envelope signal within sample
range to be satisfied by

P(r  rm) = 0.5.

◼ We have rm = 1.777

◼ Rayleigh distribution

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING
P(r)

1.0

0.8
=1
0.6

0.4 =2

=3
0.2

r
0
2 4 6 8 10

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING
◼ When MS far from BS, the envelope distribution of
received signal is Rician distribution. The pdf is:
r 2 + 2
−  r 
p(r ) =
r
e 2 2
I 0  , r  0
 2
 
where
 is the standard deviation,
I0(x) is the zero-order Bessel function of the first kind,
 is the amplitude of the direct signal.

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 MULTIPATH AND FREQUENCY-
SELECTIVE FADING
= 0 (Rayleigh)
=1
0.6
=2
0.5 =3

0.4
Pdf p(r)

0.3 =1

0.2

0.1

00 r
2 4 6 8
r

The pdf of the envelope variation

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 CHAPTER 2:CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE MOBILE RADIO ENVIRONMENT
2.1. Review of free-space propagation
2.2. Wireless case
2.3. Random channel characterization
2.4. Multipath and frequency-selective fading
2.5. Fading mitigation techniques

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 FADING MITIGATION TECHNIQUES

◼ Diversity:
◼ Independent signal paths have a low probability
of experiencing deep fades simultaneously.
Received Signal Power

0
-20
(dBm)

-40
-60
-80
-100
0 4 8 12 16 d
The chance that two deep fades
occur simultaneously is rare.

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 FADING MITIGATION TECHNIQUES

◼ The basic concept is to send the same

information over independently fading radio.

◼ Independent fading paths can be achieved by

separating the signal in time, frequency, space,
polarization, etc.

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 FADING MITIGATION TECHNIQUES

◼ DIVERSITY COMBINING TECHNIQUES

• • •

1 2 3 M

Combiner
Output

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 FADING MITIGATION TECHNIQUES

◼ Selection Combining: picks the branch with the

highest SNR.
◼ Equal-Gain Combining: all branches are
coherently combined with equal weights.
◼ Maximal-Ratio Combining: all branches are
coherently combined with weights which
depend on the branch SNR.

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 EXAMPLE
◼ Consider a wireless transmissions with small-scale fading is followed by
Rayleigh distribution and receiver has 2 antennae using selection
combining technique with scale value is 100 (20dB). Compute the outage
probability with the received threshold 10 (10 dB) and compare with case
without diversity technique (1 antenna)
◼ Redo for the maximal ratio combining

Hint: Channel gain follows Exponential distribution

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 EXAMPLE

OPSC = Pr SNR W   10 W  = Pr max  1 ,  2   10 = Pr  1  10 Pr  2  10

  10    10  
= F1 (10 ) F 2 (10 ) = 1 − exp  −  1 − exp  −   = 0.0091
  
   1     2 

  10  
OP = Pr SNR W   10 W  = Pr  1  10 = F1 (10 ) = 1 − exp  −   = 0.091
 
   1 

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 EXAMPLE
z
OPMRC = Pr SNR W   10 W  = Pr  =  1 +  2  z = 10 =  F1 ( z − x ) f 2 ( x ) dx
x =0
z z
  z − x  1  x 
=  F1 ( z − x ) f 2 ( x ) dx =  1 − exp  −   exp  −  dx
x =0 x =0    1   2  2 
 z  1  z  z   1 1 
= 1 − exp  −  − exp  −   exp  − x  −   dx
 
 2  2   1  x =0    2 1 
 z  z  z 
= 1 − exp  −  − exp  − 
 2  2  1 
 10  10  10 
= 1 − exp  −  − exp −  = 0.0046
 100  100  100 

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 FADING MITIGATION TECHNIQUES

◼ RAKE RECEIVER:
sc(t)

Received Data
Signal Coherent Output
sc(t-Tc) Combiner Demodulator

sc(t-2Tc)
•
•
•

sc(t-TM)
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 FADING MITIGATION TECHNIQUES

◼ When the chip time is much less than the rms

delay spread, each branch has independent fading
 equivalent to diversity combining.
◼ When the chip time is greater than the rms delay
spread, the paths cannot be resolved  no
diversity gain.

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 SUMMARY

◼ Understood the basic knowledge about the

free-space and wireless case propagation.
◼ Understood the phenomenal fading and
know how to solve that problems.
◼ Hardly knowing the methods for fading
mitigation.

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 HOMEWORK

◼ Review the chapter 2.

◼ Read chapter 3 ( pp.62->74).
◼ Solve the exercises: 2.2, 2.4.

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