EE4N

Satellite and Cellular Radio

Antennas and Propagation
Cellular Radio
Dr Costas Constantinou
 Mobile radio propagation
• See slides 35 – 49 on Multipath Propagation
from MSc Introductory Module for
Communications
– this material is assumed known but is repeated
here (slides 3 – 9 & 14 – 21) for the benefit of the
MEng students
• We focus on the in-depth study of the small-
scale signal variations, i.e. fast-fading models
– the motion of the mobile station in a multipath
environment has significant effects on mobile
system design

2
 Multipath propagation
• Mobile radio channels are predominantly in the VHF
and UHF bands
– VHF band (30 MHz  f  300 MHz, or 1 m    10 m)
– UHF band (300 MHz  f  3 GHz, or 10 cm    1 m)
• In an outdoor environment electromagnetic signals
can travel from the transmitter to the receiver along
many paths
– Reflection
– Diffraction
– Transmission
– Scattering

3
 Multipath propagation
• Narrowband signal
(continuous wave –
CW) envelope

Area mean or path Multipath fading

loss (deterministic or (statistical)
empirical)

Local mean, or shadowing, or shadow 4

fading (deterministic or statistical)
 Multipath propagation
• The total signal consists of
many components
– Each component
corresponds to a signal
which has a variable
amplitude and phase
– The power received varies
rapidly as the component
phasors add with rapidly
changing phases
 Averaging the phase angles results in the local mean
signal over areas of the order of  102
 Averaging the length (i.e. power) over many
locations/obstructions results in the area mean
 The signals at the receiver can be expressed in terms
of delay, and depend on polarisation, angle of arrival,
Doppler shift, etc.
5
 Area mean models
• We will only cover the Hata-Okumura model,
which derives from extensive measurements
made by Okumura in 1968 in and around Tokyo
between 200 MHz and 2 GHz
• The measurements were approximated in a set
of simple median path loss formulae by Hata
• The model has been standardised by the ITU as
recommendation ITU-R P.529-2

6
 Area mean models
• The model applies to three clutter and terrain
categories
– Urban area: built-up city or large town with large
buildings and houses with two or more storeys, or
larger villages with closely built houses and tall,
thickly grown trees
– Suburban area: village or highway scattered with
trees and houses, some obstacles being near the
mobile, but not very congested
– Open area: open space, no tall trees or buildings in
path, plot of land cleared for 300 – 400 m ahead, e.g.
farmland, rice fields, open fields
7
 Area mean models
urban areas : LdB  A  B log R  E
suburban areas : LdB  A  B log R  C
open areas : LdB  A  B log R  D
where
A  69.55  26.16 log f c  13.82 log hb
B  44.9  6.55 log hb
C  2log  f c 28  5.4
2

D  4.78log f c   18.33 log f c  40.94

2

E  3.2log 11.75hm   4.97 for large cities, f c  300M Hz

2

E  8.29log 1.54hm   1.1

2
for large cities, f c  300M Hz
E  1.1 log f c  0.7 hm  1.56 log f c  0.8 for medium to small cities
8
 Area mean models
• The Hata-Okumura model is only valid for:
– Carrier frequencies: 150 MHz  fc  1500 MHz
– Base station/transmitter heights: 30 m  hb  200 m
– Mobile station/receiver heights: 1 m  hm  10 m
– Communication range: R > 1 km
– A large city is defined as having an average building
height in excess of 15 m

9
 Area mean models – microcells
• Range dependence for microcells is strongly influenced by street
geometry
– Line-of-sight paths (LOS)
– Non-line-of-sight paths (NLOS) (Lateral vs. transverse)
Zig-zag
Lateral
Staircase

Transverse

Tx LOS

10
 Area mean models – microcells
• Based on measurements by AirTouch Communication in San
Francisco at 900MHz and 1900MHz for ht = 3.2, 8.7 and 13.4 m and
hr = 1.6 m
• Two slope models with a breakpoint distance as predicted by the
two ray model db  4ht hr  for LOS case

L  81.1  39.4 log10 f GHz  0.1log10 ht  15.8  5.7 log10 ht log10 d km

for d < db and where the distances are measured in km and the
frequency in GHz
L  48.4  47.5 log10 f GHz  25.3 log10 ht
 32.1  13.9 log10 ht  log10 d db 
for d > db. Note that there is a 3dB discontinuity at d = db
11
 Area mean models – microcells
• For the staircase and transverse NLOS cases in suburban
environments only

L  138.3  38.9 log10 f GHz   13.7  4.6 log10 f GHz sgn  y0  log10 1  y0 
 40.1  4.4 sgn  y0  log10 1  y0 log10 d km

where y0  ht  H B ,  7.8m  y0  5.4m and HB is the mean

building height
• For the lateral NLOS case in suburban environments only

L  127.4  31.6 log10 f GHz   13.1  4.4 log10 f GHz sgn  y0  log10 1  y0 
 29.2  6.7 sgn  y0  log10 1  y0 log10 d km

12
 Area mean models – microcells
• For the staircase and transverse NLOS cases in high-rise urban
environments only
L  143.2  29.7 log10 f GHz  1.0 log10 ht  47.2  3.7 log10 ht log10 d km

• For the lateral NLOS case in high-rise urban environments only

L  135.4  12.5 log10 f GHz  5.0 log10 ht  46.8  2.3 log10 ht log10 d km
• The standard deviation of the models from the actual data was
found to be approximately 6–12dB

13
 Local mean model
• The departure of the local mean power from the area
mean prediction, or equivalently the deviation of the area
mean model is described by a log-normal distribution
• In the same manner that the theorem of large numbers
states that the probability density function of the sum of
many random processes obeys a normal distribution, the
product of a large number of random processes obeys a
log-normal distribution
• Here the product characterises the many cascaded
interactions of electromagnetic waves in reaching the
receiver
• The theoretical basis for this model is questionable over
short-ranges, but it is the best available that fits
observations
14
 Local mean model
• Working in logarithmic units (decibels, dB), the total path loss
is given by
PLd   Ld   X 
where X is a random variable obeying a lognormal
distribution with standard deviation  (again measured in dB)
p X   
1

exp  X 2 2 dB
2

 dB 2
• If x is measured in linear units (e.g. Volts)
1  ln x  ln mx 
p x   exp  
 dB x 2  2 2
dB 
where mx is the mean value of the signal given by the area
mean model
15
 Local mean model
• Cumulative probability density function
LT  L d 
1
cdf  PL  LThreshold    exp  X 2 2 dB
2
 dX
  dB 2
1  LT  L  d  
 1  erfc  
2   dB 2 
• This can be used to calculate the probability that the
signal-to-noise ratio will never be lower than a desired
threshold value. This is called an outage calculation
• Typical values of dB = 10 dB are encountered in urban
outdoor environments, with a de-correlation distance
between 20 – 80 m with a median value of 40 m
16
 Fast fading models
Im
• Constructive and destructive
interference
– In spatial domain
– In frequency domain Re
– In time domain (scatterers, tx and rx P
in relative motion)
• Azimuth dependent Doppler shifts
– Each multipath component travels
corresponds to a different path
length. 
– Plot of power carried by each
component against delay is called
the power delay profile (PDP )of the
channel.
– 2nd central moment of PDP is called
the delay spread 
17
 Fast fading models
• The relation of the radio system bandwidth Bs to the
delay spread  is very important
– Narrowband channel (flat fading, negligible inter-symbol
interference (ISI), diversity antennas useful) Bs  
1

– Wideband channel (frequency selective fading, need

equalisation (RAKE receiver) or spread spectrum techniques (W-
CDMA, OFDM, etc.) to avoid/limit ISI) Bs  
1

• More on this later (information here is incomplete)

• Fast fading refers to very rapid variations in signal
strength (20 to in excess of 50 dB in magnitude) typically
in an analogue narrowband channel
– Dominant LOS component  Rician fading
– NLOS components of similar magnitude  Rayleigh fading
18
 Fast fading models
• Working in logarithmic units (decibels, dB), the total path
loss is given by
PLd   Ld   X   20 log10 Y
where Y is random variable which describes the fast
fading and it obeys the distribution
Y  Y2 
 2 exp   2 , Y  0
pY      2 
 0, Y 0

for Rayleigh fading, where the mean value of Y is
Y    2  1    0.80
19
 Fast fading models
• For Rician fading
Y  Y 2  ys2   Yy s 
 exp    I 0  2 , Y  0
pY     2  2    
2

 0, Y 0

where ys is the amplitude of the dominant (LOS)
component with power ys2 2 . The ratio K Rice  ys 2 
2 2

is called the Rician K-factor. The mean value of Y is

Y    2 1  K  I0 K 2  K I1 K 2exp  K 2

The Rician K-factor can vary considerably across small

areas in indoor environments
20
 Fading models
• Similar but much more complicated outage calculations
– E.g. Rayleigh and log-normal distributions combine to give a
Suzuki distribution
• The spatial distribution of fades is such that the “length”
of a fade depends on the number of dB below the local
mean signal we are concerned with
Fade depth (dB) Average fade length ()
0 0.479
-10 0.108
-20 0.033
-30 0.010

21
 Clarke’s model
• Consider a moving MS as depicted in the figure
ith multipath
component

MS
ai
v, velocity

• A good yet simple model for the multipath signal at the receiving MS
antenna is that of a superposition of N horizontally travelling,
vertically polarised electric field components. The total field at the
MS antenna, Ez, is given by,
N
Ez   Ai exp  jkvt cos ai 
i 1
where Ai is the (complex) amplitude of the ith field component,
k = 2/ is the wavenumber, v is the mobile velocity ai is the
corresponding angle of arrival and t is time
22
 Clarke’s model (cont.)
• Expressing all the amplitudes into their real and imaginary
components,
Ai  Ri  jSi
Ez  X  jY
where N
X    Ri cos i  Si sin i 
i 1
N
Y     Ri sin i  Si cos i 
i 1

i  kvt cos a i
• The amplitude, r, of the envelope of Ez is given by,
r  X 2 Y 2
23
 Clarke’s model (cont.)
• The real and imaginary parts of Ai, Ri and Si respectively are random
variables, each with zero mean. Invoking the central limit theorem,
we can see that in the limit of large N the two quadrature
components X and Y become independent Gaussian random
variables with the same variance and zero mean (see S.O. Rice,
B.S.T.J., 27, pp.109–157, 1948).
1  X 2 Y2 
p  X , Y   p  X  p Y   exp  
2 2
 2 
2

p  X , Y  dXdY  p (r ,  )rdrd (Cartesian to polar coordinates)

r  r2  1
p  r ,   rdrd  2 exp  2  dr d  p  r  dr  p   d
  2  2
r  r2 
p  r   2 exp  2 
  2  24
 Clarke’s model (cont.)
• Clarke’s model describes Rayleigh fading statistics of the received
signal envelope in linear units (in volts)
• It has a mean square value (i.e. signal power) of 2 2.
r  r2 
p  r   2 exp  2  , r  0
  2 

r 25
 Clarke’s model (cont.)
• Movement creates fading
– system will have threshold
above which signal will be
detectable; below it will be
lost
• Key parameters
– outage probability
– level crossing rate
– average fade duration
threshold
• All needed to choose best
bit rates, word lengths
and coding schemes

26
 Outage probability
• The outage probability is the probability that the signal envelope
will be below a threshold value specified by the system designers.
This is given by the cumulative probability density function (c.d.f.),
Rth

Poutage  prob  r  Rth    p  r  dr

0
Rth Rth2
r  r 
2
1  x 
 
0
2
exp  2  dr 
 2 

0
2 2
exp  2  dx
 2 
Rth2
  x   Rth2 
   exp  2   1  exp  2 
  2  0  2 
• Example
– If average signal is 100W, what is probability of outage, if the minimum
receiver sensitivity is 10 W?
– Remember that Rth2 is the minimum threshold power and that 2 2 is the average
signal power, giving, Poutage = 1 – exp(–10/100) = 0.095
27
 Angle of arrival and signal
Doppler spectra
• For a vehicle moving with velocity v, the Doppler frequency shift of
the ith scattered signal component is,
v
fi  cos a i

• Components arriving ahead of the vehicle along the direction of its
motion experience a positive Doppler shift fmax = +v/, while those
arriving behind the vehicle experience a negative Doppler shift –fmax
= – v/
• If the number of signal components N is very large, the fraction of
power contained within the range of angles of arrival between a and
(a + da) can be described by a continuous distribution p(a)da; if the
receiving antenna has gain/radiation pattern G(a), then this needs to
be modified to G(a)p(a)da

28
 Angle of arrival and signal
Doppler spectra (cont.)
• The power spectral density S(f ) arising from the Doppler shift, and
which describes the signal dispersion due to the MS’s motion in a
multipath environment, is,
S  f  df  G a  p a   G  a  p  a  da
• This is because the power spectral density must equal the power
arrival density to guarantee conservation of energy
• Since the instantaneous received frequency is a function of the
carrier frequency and the angle of arrival,
 f  fc 
2
f  fc
f a   f max cos a  f c  cos a   sin a  1 2
f max f max
df
  f  fc 
2
  f max sin a   f max
2

da

29
 Angle of arrival and signal
Doppler spectra (cont.)
• But,
da
S  f   G a  p a   G  a  p  a 
df
G a  p a   G  a  p  a 
S f 
  f  fc 
2 2
f max
• This is true for |f – fc| < fmax and is zero otherwise. The angle a in the
numerator is given by,
f  fc
a  arccos
f max

30
 Angle of arrival and signal
Doppler spectra (cont.)
• For an electrically short vertical monopole, G(a) = 3/2 and for the
Clarke model, p(a) = 1/2, giving,
S f 
3
S f 
 f  fc 
2

2 f max 1 2
f max

3 2 f max
f c  f max fc f c  f max

• We shall further examine shortly the impact of Doppler/dispersion on

digital signals

31
 Fading envelope statistics
• The level crossing rate, NR, at a
specified signal level R is defined as
the average number of times per
second that the signal envelope
crosses this level in a positive-going

direction:
N R   rp  R, r  dr
0
where p  R, r  is the joint p.d.f. of R Specified
and r , and the dot indicates a time level, R

derivative. Rice (B.S.T.J., 27,

pp.109–157, 1948) derives the joint
p.d.f. for the joint Gaussian process p  r , r ,  ,  
from which we can derive that p  R, r 
is the product of a Rayleigh
distribution for R and a Gaussian
32
distribution for r .
 Fading envelope statistics
• Direct evaluation of the above integral then yields,

N R  2 f max  exp    2  ,   R r 2  R 2 2  R Rrms

where  is the ratio between the specified level and the r.m.s.
amplitude of the fading envelope.

Example: 1

For GSM fc = 900 MHz

0.1
and a car moving in a city
NR/fm

at v = 48 km/h, fmax = 40 Hz
with a corresponding level 0.01
crossing rate at  = –3dB
of 39 times per second
0.001
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10
33
 = 20log10(R/Rrms)
 Fading envelope statistics
• The average fade duration can
be easily found from,
prob  r  R 
  R 
NR
prob  r  R   1  exp    2  Specified
level, R

1  exp    2 
  R  1
2 f max  exp    2

exp   2   1 0.1
R)/fm

  R 
 f max 2 0.01

0.001
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 34
 = 20log10(R/Rrms)
 Spatial correlation of fields
• The effects of fading can be combated using spatial diversity
techniques
• Consider the following geometry at the MS
nth plane wave multipath component

an an
+ +
P P’
z
• If the phase of the nth plane wave at P is n, then the phase of the
same plane wave multipath component at P’ is (n – kzcosan), where
k is the wavenumber
• We need to calculate the autocovariance function of the electric
field, REz Ez*  P ' Ez  P 
35
 Spatial correlation of fields
N N
E  P '  Ez  P   E
*
z
2
0  exp   j 
n 1
n  kz cos a n   exp  jm 
m 1
N N
E  P '  Ez  P   E
*
z
2
0  exp  j 
n 1 m 1
m  n   exp  jkz cos a n 
N N
REz  E 2
0  exp  j m  n   exp  jkz cos a n 
n 1 m 1

where we have assumed that a and  are statistical independent

• In the Clarke model the multipath field components have

uncorrelated, uniformly distributed random phases, giving,
1, n  m
exp  j m  n     n,m 
0, n  m
36
 Spatial correlation of fields
N
REz  E2
0 
n 1
exp  jkz cos a n 

• In the limit of large N the summation can be approximated by an

integral, giving,

REz  NE  p a  exp  jkz cos a  da
2
0

• When the waves arrive at the mobile with equal probability from all
directions,p a   1 2 2
• Using the standard integral, exp  jx cos   d   J 0  x  , yields,

0

REz z   NE02 J 0  kz 

where J0 is the Bessel function of the first kind and order 0

37
 Spatial correlation of fields
• It follows that to a good approximation, the normalised
autocovariance function of the signal envelope is equal to the
square of the normalised autocovariance function of the random
field, i.e., 1.0
0.8
0.6
 E z   J 02  kz 
|Ez|
0.4
z
0.2
0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
z /
• The above analysis only applies at the MS
• At the BST, we assume a more complex p(a)
– The BST AoA model is based on a ring of scatterers around the MS, with the
mobile being at a given distance and azimuth angle from the BST antenna
– The full analysis for a macrocell is given in Jakes (1974) §1.6
38
 Diversity reception
• Basic Principle:
– If two or more independent samples of a random process
are taken then these samples will fade in an uncorrelated
manner.
• Diversity Methods
– Frequency
• Unacceptable as it would increase spectrum congestion
– Polarisation
• Possible but depends on degree of depolarisation in scattering process
– Field
• E and H fields may be uncorrelated but antenna design may be hard
– Space
• Best method, but needs increased antenna spacing/effective size
• OK at VHF on vehicles and in excess of 900 MHz on handsets

39
 Diversity reception
• Can be done at base station or mobile but normally at base station
to keep cost of handsets down
• Key concept is sampling of multipath fading waveform at two points
where the fading is uncorrelated – then if one of them is in a deep
fade, statistically (i.e. on average) the other point will be receiving an
adequate signal
Handset diversity: two
antennas sample multipath
field environments at two
uncorrelated points

Base station diversity: two

antennas create two
uncorrelated multipath field
environments at mobile
40
Multipath scattering area
 Diversity reception

Typical diversity base station antennas: (a) USA, (b) UK, (c) Japan
41
 Diversity reception
1 2 3 M 1 2 3 M 1 2 3 M
... ... ...

a1 a2 a3 aM

Co-phasing & Co-phasing &

Logic
summing summing

Rx Rx Rx

Selection diversity: Equal gain combining: Maximal ratio combining:

The logic picks branch Only the phase of the The phase of the branches is
with the biggest SNR branches is equalised equalised and the branches
(sampling faster than before summation are weighted by ak = rk/N
channel fading rate) before summation
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 Diversity reception
• Selection combining
– Simple switching
– Cheap
– Least effective SNRselection M
1
– Improvement is average SNR is
SNRk
 
k 1 k
• Equal gain combining
– Better performance
– Requires phase shifters SNRequal gain 
– Improvement in average SNR is  1   M  1
• Maximal ratio combining SNRk 4
– Best performance
– Requires both phase shifters and agile variable gain amplifiers
– Improvement in average SNR is
SNRmaximal ratio
M
SNRk
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 Diversity reception
• Only few dB improvement in SNR
• This can be achieved more simply by increasing tx power
• Diversity decreases signal variability that cannot be achieved
through increasing tx power
– AGC or signal limiter operation becomes easier
• For M = 2
– Selection combining SNR improvement factor g = 1.5
– Equal gain combining SNR improvement factor is g = 1.8
– Maximal ratio combining SNR improvement factor is g = 2
• But
– Resultant PDFs are flatter (not shown here) indicating significantly
smaller probabilities for fades
– E.g. For a 2-branch system which would be only 88% reliable, selection
combining diversity is 99% reliable – to achieve this otherwise would
require increasing the tx power by 12dB

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 Diversity reception
• Selection diversity requires continuous
channel monitoring
• Switched, or scanning diversity strategies do
not try to find the best SNR, just an
acceptable one
– Switch and stay (until branch SNR falls below a
pre-defined acceptable threshold, irrespective of
other branch(es) SNR(s))
– Switch and examine (and keep switching until
branch SNR is found to be above a long term
average SNR for all branches)

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 Small--scale fading
Small
• Two distinct issues
BS
Flat fading BC
Multi path time delay
BS
Frequency selective fading BC
Small scale
fading
TS
Fast fading TC
Doppler spread

TS
Slow fading
TC

Ts: Baseband symbol duration, Tc: channel coherence time ~ 1/Doppler spread
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Bs: Signal bandwidth, Bc: channel coherence bandwidth
 Small--scale fading
Small
• Delay spread and Coherence bandwidth describe the
time dispersive nature of the channel in a local area
– They don’t contain information on the time varying nature of the
channel caused by relative motion of transmitter and/or receiver
• Doppler spread and Coherence time are parameters
which describe the time varying nature of the channel in
a small-scale region
• These pairs of quantities obey an uncertainty principle
relation in general, but they are often inversely
proportional to each other

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 Small--scale fading
Small
• Flat fading occurs when the coherence bandwidth of the channel is
larger than the bandwidth of the signal
– Therefore, all frequency components of the signal will experience the
same magnitude of fading
– The effects of flat fading can be mitigated using diversity
transmission/reception and/or power control
• Frequency-selective fading occurs when the coherence bandwidth
of the channel is smaller than the bandwidth of the signal
– Different frequency components of the signal therefore experience de-correlated
fading
– Such channels are dispersive, giving rise to inter-symbol interference which can
be combated using equalisers
– Wideband CDMA or OFDM can be used
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 Small--scale fading
Small
• Fast fading occurs when the coherence time of the
channel is small relative to the delay constraint (roughly
speaking symbol duration) of the channel
– In this regime, the amplitude and phase change imposed by the
channel varies considerably over the period of use
– Error-correcting coding and bit interleaving helps combat fast
fading
• Slow fading arises when the coherence time of the
channel is large relative to the delay constraint of the
channel
– In this regime, the amplitude and phase change imposed by the
channel can be considered roughly constant over the period of
use
– In a slow-fading channel, a deep fade therefore lasts the entire
duration of transmission and cannot be mitigated
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 Antennas for cellular radio
• Handset antennas:
– Needs to be omnidirectional, vertically polarised
– Originally whip antennas, evolving to radial mode helices, to bifilar and
quadrifilar helical antennas to accommodate for multiple frequency band
operation
– Multi-band printed patch antennas (mostly inverted-F)
– Omnidirectionality no longer desirable due to need to reduce radiowave
energy absorbtion by soft tissue of user (especially brain)
– Needs to be robust to de-tuning due to hand/head proximity effects

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 Antennas for cellular radio
• Base station antennas:
– Sector coverage
– Beam downtilting
– Spatial diversity
– Each element is often a printed antenna array
– Adaptive antennas with null steering used in CDMA systems to
suppress unwanted interference (very complex
control/processing subsystems)
– Need of concealment due to negative public perception

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