VEHICULAR
TECHNOLOGY,
TRANSACTIONS
VOL.
ON
IEEE VT-34, KO. 1. FEBRUARY 1985
Fade Margin Calculation for Channels Impaired by Rician
Fading
FARAMARZ DAVARIAN, MEMBER,
IEEE
Abstract-Excess path loss due to multipath severely restricts the
performance of power limited mobile networks such as those using
satellite-aided links. To reduce multipath related losses, the higher
elevation angle of the spacecraft can be exploited by utilizing mobile
antennas which reduce the strength of the multipath reflections in favor
of the line-of-sight signal. The presence of a strong and stable path in a
fading link will change the envelope statistics of the received waveform
from Rayleigh to a more favorable Rician distribution. It is determined
that the excess path loss, or fade margin, of a Rician channel when
coherent detection of binary phase shift keying (BPSK) or quaternary
phase shift keying (QPSK) signals is considered. The results are presented
parametrically such that they can be applied to a wide range of
propagation characteristics from heavy fading to nonfading situations.
Furthermore, similar results are also given for the case where only limited
coverage is provided.
I. INTRODUCTION
DAWNING
HE OF satellite-aided mobile
Tcommunications has brought about changes in system
requirements and priorities. Unlike their spaceborne counter-
parts, most terrestrial systems, including the cellular network,
enjoy an abundance of power and spectrum. On the other
hand, the propagation environment generally is more hostile
for the terrestriallinks than the ones which are aided by
spacecraft. Utilization of omnidirectional mobile antennas,
coupled with frequent shadowing of the base transmitter, gives
rise to the Rayleigh characteristic of the received signal
envelope. The Rayleigh statistics, in essence, indicate that the
received waveform mostly consists of diffused fading elements
with little or no stable component. It is well-known that this
characteristic results in severe loss of power, particularly in
the case of digital communications when low probability of
error is desired.
In contrast to the severe propagation characteristics of the
terrestrial channels, the satellite-aided links can enjoy a much
more agreeable behavior due to frequent existence of a stable
line-of-sight path. Such propagation characteristics can be
further enhanced by the use of mobile antennas which offer
some degree of discrimination against multipath elements in
favor of the stable line-of-sight component. Indeed, in recent
years, activities conducted by the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration for the land mobile satellite service
program has resulted in elegant and yet simple to construct
antenna designs which offer a moderate amount of gain in the
direction of the spacecraft [ 13. Similar activities undertaken by
the Department of Communications in Canada [2] have
Manuscript received March 28,1984; revised November 1. 1984. This
work was supported by a contract from NASA.
The author is with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of
Technology, 4800 Oak GroveDrive, Pasadena, CA 91109. Telephone
(818) 3544820.
0018-9545/85/0200-0041$01.00
41
empirically shown that exploitation of such mildly directional
antennas can be instrumental in reduction of multipath signals
at the mobile receiver. Therefore, we may safely assume that
the power overhead needed to combat fading in satellite-aided
mobile links may be considerably less than thatof their
terrestrial counterparts. It should be noted, however, that the
effectiveness of the antenna in discrimination against the
reflected waveforms greatly depends on the satellite elevation
angle in the sense that mobiles operating in the areas closer to
the equator have an advantage relative to the ones located in
higher latitudes.
Multipath fading plagues the propagation medium by
imposing random amplitude and phase variations onto the
transmitted waveform.Clearly, the relative effect ofthe
unwanted random variation terms is reduced by the presence
of a strong line-of-sight component.Therefore, the power
ratio of the stable component to the fading signals is expected
to be a crucialfactor in determining the linkbehavior. A
proper means of formulating the propagation effects of a
frequency nonselective fading channel is to describe the
random amplitude and phase variation terms statistically via
their respective probability density functions. On the other
hand, to measure fading related performance losses in a digital
link, the excess power necessary to achieve a certain bit error
rate can be determined. Let W denote the power required to
achieve a given bit error rate in the absence of fading. When
fading is present, the extra power F necessary to achieve the
same performance is called the fade margin at that bit error
rate.Therefore, the total power necessary to achieve the
desired performance is W + F.
In this paper, the fade margin for the class of Rician
channels will be determined when ideal coherent detection of
binary phase shift keying (BPSK) or quaternary phase shift
keying (QPSK) signals is considered. Furthermore, the case of
limited coverage, wherein the desired grade of service is not
assured for the whole coveragearea, is examined, and, for
each case, the fade margins are numerically calculated for the
average error probabilities of 0.0001, 0.001, and 0.01. The
results presented in this paper will facilitate the link budget
calculation correspondingto mobile satellite systems and
terrestrial channels which suffer from Rician type fading. No
attempt is made to account for the noisy phase of the receiver
carrier reference.
II. PROBLEM FORMULATION
Let the observed signal at the receiver be expressed by
S(t)= ax(t)s(t) cos [ut +y(t)] (1)
0 1985 IEEE
42 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. VT-34, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 1985
where x(t) and y ( t ) denote the amplitude and phase random
modulations, and a 2 / 2 , s(t) and w denote the carrier power,
data bearing signal, and thecarrierangularfrequency,
respectively. It is also assumed that the bandwidths of x(t) and
y ( t ) are small compared to the information bit rate.
Assuming ideal carrier phase tracking at the receiver and
also adopting an optimumdetection strategy, the receiver error
probability [3] is given by
P = 0.5 erfc (2)
where y = x2(t)and G = a2/2a2.Note that G represents the
mean signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), yG denotes the instantane-
ous SNR, and a* is the thermal noise power. Since x(t) is
slowly varying relative to the channel symbol duration, y can
be treated as a time independent random variable; therefore
the average bit error rate is given by
m
pe= J 0
pelyp(y) dy (3)
where p ( y ) denotes the probability density function of y. This
function for a Rician channel (wheresquare root of y is
Rician) is readily available and is given as (see the Appendix)
P ( Y ) = (1 + K ) exp [ - K - Y(1 + K)110[24(K2 + K ) 1 (4)
where K is a propagation parameter defined as
power in steady component
K=
power in fading (random) component
Some authors refer to K as the propagation SNR. The above
statistics assume that the propagation medium can be charac-
terized by the combination of a major stable path and a number
of fading weak paths. Hence, the composite signal consists of
the sum of a steady signal and a Rayleigh fading signal.
Parameter K is used as a figure of merit to denote the relative
strength of the stable received signal to that of signals
bouncing off nearby objects. Note that the expected value of y
is one. For the case that the stable signal does not exist, i.e., K
= 0, the distribution of y is given by
P ( Y ) = exp ( - Y)* (5)
The above distribution is associated with a Rayleigh channel
wheresquare root of y is a Rayleigh random variable and
represents a propagation medium completely dominated by
multipath components.For the Rayleigh case, (3) can be
evaluated by analytical methods [4] as
Y
P,=- 1 -
2 JI+I/G >* (6)
However, for the generalRician case when K # 0, evaluation
of (3) is not trivial and numerical computation is helpful.
B. Numerical Results
To determine P, as a function of mean SNR G, a computer
program was used to compute (3) for different values of K .
,2
5
Y
10 -
8- 10-2
6-
4-
2 -8
0 - I
4 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
PROPAGATION SNR, K, IN dB
Fig. 1. Fade margin as a function of K for BPSK and QPSK signals for P, =
lo-*, and
For a given value of P,, thedifference between required
SNR’s with and without fading was evaluated and the result is
illustrated in Fig. 1. Therefore, Fig. 1 shows the fade margin
in dB as a function of K for bit error rates of O.OOO1, 0.001,
and 0.01. Note that for large K the fade margin approaches
zero denoting a stable channel, while, for small K , the fade
margin approaches that of the Rayleigh channel denoting a
heavily fading environment.
From Fig. 1 it appears that a propagation medium can be
classified as Rayleigh, Rician, or nonfading depending on K .
For the values of K not exceedingzerodB, the medium
exhibits primarily Rayleigh characteristics. The values of K
between 0 and 13 dB represent Rician behavior. And for K
exceeding 13 dB the channel can be treated approximately as
nonfading .
Anotherinteresting finding of this study is that the fade
margin approximately doubles every time the bit error rate is
decreased an order of magnitude. For example, fade margins
of 3.5,7.5,and 15 dB are associated with the bit error rates of
0.01, 0.001, and 0.001 at K = 6 dB. This observation is
useful in predicting fade margin values for areas not presented
in Fig. 1. For example it can be expected that the fade margin
for bit error rate of O.oooO1 is approximately equal to 30 dB at
K = 6 dB.
III. FADE MARGIN WITH LIMITED COVERAGE
In the previous section, it was shown that the excess power
required for reliable communications in a fading channel, that
is the fade margin, is a monotonically decreasing function of
K. It was also shown that for a relevant value of K , such as 6
dB, the fade margin for reliable communications is prohibi-
tively high since the fade margins were computed assuming
total coverage, i.e., 100 percent of the time and 100 percent of
DAVARIAN: CHANNELS IMPAIRED BY RICIAN FADING 43

the location. To reduce the severe power requirements of a - Bit Error Rates o f IO-*, and
satellite-aided mobile link, it can be postulated that 100 - BPSK or QPSK Modulation
percent reliable service is no longer required. In other words, - PerfectCarrier Phase Reference i s Assumed AvailableattheReceiver.
only in a prespecified portion of the coverage area, say /3, can
quality communications be warranted. This is analogous to RlClANFADING -
assuming that mobiles located in worst case situations will COHERENTDETECTION
95% COVERAGE
temporarily not be serviced (or serviced with undesirable -
effects). In this section, the fade margin for limited coverge
will be presented and it will be shown that a major power
saving can result from this approach. z 4-

Equation (4)describes the fading phenomenon statistically

overanarea which the signal strength stretches fromzero
(worst case fading) to infinity. Therefore to account only for
the region of interest, the worst case situation mustbe
eliminated by modifying (4)as
U(1+ K ) exp [-K-y(1 +K)Z0[2Jy(K2+K),
P d Y )=
0, otherwise
where b is a threshold discriminating between the serviceable
region and the nonserviceable region and U is a normalization
factor. Let /3 denote the coverage area in percent. Parameter b
can then be computed from
Now that the proper distribution of y is known (7), the
averaging of (2) over y will produce the desired results.
To determine the average bit error rate as a function of the
mean SNR (G), a computer programwas prepared. Selecting a
numerical value for /3 (percent of coverage) and a value for K ,
the required SNR's for fading and nonfading channels were
computed. The differencebetween these two values is the fade
margin at the desired bit error rate. Hence it was possible to
plot the fade margin versus K for a given error rate. Fig. 2
illustrates the fade margin for bit error rates of 0.01, 0.001,
and O.OOO1 when /3 = 95. As before, the signal represented in
this figure is of uncoded BPSK or QPSK type.
A comparison of the two sets of results presented in Figs. 1
and 2 reveals that a substantial reduction in the fade margin is
obtained if service coverageis reduced. For example, consider
a satellite-aided mobile link characterized by K = 6 dB and bit
error rate of O.OOO1. In this case, 100 percent coverage
required 15 dB excess power while 95 percent coverage
requires only an excess power of 3.5 dB. The excess power is
always computed relative to the ideal nonfading channel. Note
that an ideal BPSK channel requires 8.3 dB of SNR (G = 8.3
dB) to provide a bit error rateof O.OOO1 for BPSK modulation.
One must be cautious in practical assessment of the results
presented in Fig. 2. This figure, if not interpreted correctly,
could deceptively be overoptomistic. The reason for this is
that for the duration of each message transmission, assuming
mobiles transmit alphanumeric messages toa stationary
receiver, there is more than 1-/3/lOO likelihood that a given
mobile will cross a nonserviceable region. In other words, if /3
2-
01 I I I I I I I
-2 0 2 4 6 8 10
PROPAGATIONSNR (dB)
Fig. 2. Fade margin for 95 percent coverage in a Rician channel as a
function of K .
= 95, the success probability of a message getting across may
be less than 95 percent.
CONCLUSION
To examine the excess path loss in a satellite-aided mobile
channel, the propagation medium was modeled by the vector
summation of a stable line-of-sight and aRayleigh fading path.
It was shown that the resulting power outage strongly depends
on the power ratio between these two components, and
parametric graphs of the excess path loss as a function of this
ratio ( K ) were presented. Since K strongly depends on the
mobile antenna beam pattern as well as the satellite elevation
angle, the importance of the antenna on the overall power
budget of the spacecraft is evident.
Means of determining the fade margin for limited coverage,
wherein the specified grade of service is not provided
everywhere, are presented. A major power saving results from
only slightly limiting the service area. The results presented in
this paper are important for calculation of the link budget for
satellite-aided mobile links as well as terrestrial networks with
Rician characteristics.
APPENDIX
In this Appendix the probability density function of the
square of a Rician distributed random variable will be
determined. A Rician channel can be modeled as the sum of a
steady tone plus a Rayleigh fading signal, where the amplitude
of the composite signal, x , is Rician distributed and its
probability density function [5] is given by
px(x)=ZU(l + K ) exp [ - K - ( 1 + K ) x 2 ] Z 0 [ d K ( 1+ K ) 1,
for x>O
where
power in steady component
K=
power in random component
and Zo is the modified Bessel function of order zero. Now, let
pr(y) denote the probability density function of y. From [6]
44 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY,
VT-34,VOL. NO. 1 , FEBRUARY 1985

we may write [4] W. C. Y. Lee, Mobile Communications Engineering. New York:

McGraw-Hill, 1982, p. 255.
[5] M. Schwartz, W. Bennett and S . Stein, Communication Systems and
Techniques. New York:McGraw-Hill, 1966, p. 373.
[6] A.Papoulis, Probability, Random Variables, and Stochastic Proc-
esses. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965, p. 129.
But, since PAX) = 0 for negative x, hence pr(y) =
1/ 2 6 P A 6 )9 or Faraman Davarian (S’74-M’75) received the
B.S. degree from Tehran University, Iran, in 1968,
and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Univer-
sity of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 1975,
all in electrical engineering.
From 1975 to 1979 he was an assistant professor
at the College of Science and Technology, Narmak,
REFERENCES Iran, and from 1979 to 1982 he worked at LinCom
K. Woo, “Low gain and steerable vehicle antennas for communications Corporation, Los Angeles, where he was involved
withlandmobilesatellites,” Conf. Rec., NTC, Nov. 1982, pp. in studies of communications and synchronization
B1.6.1-5. svstems.Since 1982., he has
~ ~~~~ ~~~ been
~
~~~. with
. .-the
..-Jet
~
.. ...
~
R. Huck, J. Butterworth, and E. Matt, “Propagation measurements for Propulsion Laboratory whdre he is presently an active member of the MSAT
land mobile sateUte services,” in ZEEE 33rd Veh. Technol. Conf. program team, and is involved in the development of advanced technologies
Rec., May 1983, pp. 265-268. foruse in thesatellite-aidedmobilecommunicationssystems.Hehas
F. Davarian, “Imperfect phase andtiming transfer effects on MSK and publishednumerousarticlesin the areas of mobile and satellitemobile
OQPSK signals,” Conf. Rec. NTC, Nov. 1982, pp, E2.3.1-5. communications.