Mobile Radio Propagation:

Small scale fading & Multipath

INTRODUCTION
Small Scale Fading: Rapid fluctuations of radio signal
amplitude, phase, or multipath delays of a radio signal
Occurs on short time period or short travel distance
Large-scale path loss effects can be ignored
Caused by arrival of two or more waves from the source
combining at the receiver at different times.
Resultant detected signal varies widely in amplitudes and
phase
Bandwidth of transmitted signal is important factor

Experimental record of received signal
envelope in an urban area
5.1 Small Scale Multipath Propagation
Multipath in the radio channel creates small-scale fading effects.

Three most important effects:
1. Rapid changes in signal strengths over small travel distances or
short time periods.

2. Changes in the frequency of signals due to doppler shifts.
[ Random frequency modulation]

3. Multiple signals arriving at different times. When added
together at the antenna, signals are spread out in time. This
can cause a smearing of the signal and interference between
bits that are received. [Time dispersion /Echoes]


Multipath occur due to reflections from ground &
surrounding buildings (clutter) as well as scattered
signals from trees, people, towers, etc.

Even stationary Tx/Rx wireless links can experience
fading due to the motion of objects (cars, people,
trees, etc.) in surrounding environment.

If objects in the radio channel are static, and motion
is considered to be only due to that of the mobile,
then fading is purely a spatial phenomenon.

5.1 Small Scale Multipath Propagation

At the receivers end: Radio waves generated from the same transmitted
signal may come from different directions
with different propagation delays
with (possibly) different amplitudes (random)
with (possibly) different phases (random)
with different angles of arrival (random).

These Multipath components combine vectorially at the receiver antenna and cause the total
signal
to fade
to distort

Relative motion b/w mobile & BS Multipath
wave experiences apparent shift in frequency

Shift in Rx signal frequency due to motion
Doppler Shift
Proportional to velocity & direction of motion
of the mobile wrt the direction of arrival of the
received wave.
5.1 Small Scale Multipath Propagation
5.1.1 Factors influencing Small-Scale Fading
1. Multipath Propagation
Reflecting objects & Scatterers
Multiple versions of Tx signal
Arrive at Rx antenna displaced in time & spatial
orientation.

Multipath signals have Random phase & amplitudes
Fluctuations in signal strength
Small scale fading/Signal distortion.

Lengthens the time required for the baseband
portion of signal to reach Rx. ISI


2. Speed of the mobile:

Relative motion b/w BS & mobile Random FM
due to different D.S on each of the multipath
components.

D.S is +ve/-ve based on MS moving toward or away
from the BS.


3. Speed of surrounding objects

Objects in radio path in motion time varying D.S on
multipath components.

Surrounding objects move at a greater rate than the
mobile
This effect dominates the small-scale fading.

Else motion of surrounding objects neglected.
Speed of mobile considered.

4. The transmission bandwidth of the signal

If signals bandwidth > bandwidth of the multipath
channel received signal will be distorted.

The coherence bandwidth is a measure of the
maximum frequency difference for which signals are
still strongly correlated in amplitude.

If signals bandwidth < bandwidth of the multipath
channel received signal will not be distorted but
amplitude can change.



Motion causes FM due to Doppler shift (f
d
)




t-Time required for the
mobile to travel from X toY.

-Same at X & Y-Since S is too far.

Receives signals from remote source S


Difference in PL traveled by the wave from source S to mobile at
X & Y is l .


5.1.2 Doppler Shift

Phase change in the Rx signal due to difference in
path lengths

Doppler Shift =

D.S +ve if mobile moving towards source, else ve




The Doppler frequency is a function of:

The mobile velocity

The spatial angle between the direction of motion of
the mobile and the direction of arrival of the wave

If DS is +ve frequency is increased & vice versa

The wavelength of the signal
5.2 Impulse Response Model of a Multipath Channel
Mobile Radio Channel
Model radio channel as a linear filter with a time-varying
impulse response
Time variation due to motion of receiver and/or objects
in the environment
Filtering is caused by the summation of the amplitudes
and delays of multiple arriving waves at an instant in time
d=vt -Position of the Rx moving with a velocity v
Receiver moves along the ground at some constant
velocity v.

For a fixed position d, the channel between the Tx &
Rx can be modeled as a LTI system.

Different multipath waves
have propagation delays
Vary over diff spatial locations of the Rx
LTI channel is a function of position of Rx.

Channel impulse response can be expressed as
h(d,t).
Let x(t) be the Tx signal
Rx signal= y(d,t) = x(t) h(d,t)






v is constant y(vt,t)=y(t)
Assuming V is constant


y(t) = x(t) h(vt,t) = x(t) h(d,t)

Mobile channel is modeled as linear time varying
channel, where channel changes with time &
distance.
Let h(t,) impulse response completely
characterizes the channel and it is a function of
both t and .
t Time variation due to motion
channel multipath delay for a fixed value of t(a
small adjustment of time).



Multipath channel (assume) band limited band
pass channel
h(t,) Described by complex Baseband impulse
response h
b
(t,)


r(t) & c(t) complex envelope of Rx & Tx signals.
x(t)=Re{c(t) exp(j2f
c
t)}
y(t)=Re{r(t) exp(j2f
c
t)}
It is known Avg power of BP signal x
2
(t)=0.5Ic(t)I
2
time average for deterministic signal
Factor is due to properties of complex envelope to represent in baseband
Low pass characterization removes the high frequency variations caused by
carrier
Multipath delay axis of impulse response is
Discretized into equal time delay segments
Excess delay bins

Each bins time delay width
i+1

i

If i=0
1

0
Time delay bin width

For convention
0
=0, 1= ,
i
=i for i=0 to N-1
N Total number of equally spaced multipath
components(bins

0
=0 First arriving signal at Rx
Excess Delay[
i
]: Relative delay of i
th
multipath
component compared to 1
st
arriving component


0
=0 Excess time delay of the 1
st
arriving
multipath component Neglects the propagation
delay b/w Tx & Rx.

Maximum excess delay of channel :N
Time variant impulse response model








t varies into the page
Time delay widths are quantized to widths of


Rx signal in multipath channel has series of
attenuated, time delayed, phase shifted replicas of Tx
signal.

The baseband impulse response can be expressed




of i
th
multipath component at time t.




2f
c

i
(t)+
i
(t, ) phase shift due to free space
propagation of the i
th
multipath component + any
additional phase shifts encountered in the
channel.

(.) unit impulse function Determines the
specific multipath bins that have components at
time t & excess delay
i


Time invariant model (Quasi-static)



When measuring h
b
() probing pulse p(t)
Approximates a delta function is used at Tx,
i.e., p(t)=(t- )

=
=
1
0
) ( ) exp( ) , (
N
i
i i b
j a t h t t o u t
For small scale channel modeling Power delay
profile of channel is found by taking the spatial
average Ih
b
(t; )I
2

The received power delay profile in a local area:


Average over the local area.

k gain relates Tx power in probing pulse p(t)
to the total power Rx in a multipath delay profile.

2
( ) ( ; )
b
P k h t t t ~
SSF behaves differently for 2 signals with different BWs
in the identical multipath channel.
Consider a pulsed, transmitted signal of the form







The signal p(t) is a repetitive baseband pulse train with
very narrow pulse width and repetition period ,
with

Max measured excess delay
max
.




5.2.1 Relationship between Bandwidth and Received Power

{ } ) 2 exp( ) ( Re ) ( t f j t p t x
c
t =
p(t)
t
bb
T
REP
T
real response
imaginary response
bb
T REP
T
max
t >>
REP
T
Now, let

P(t) is zero outside the interval.

Low pass channel output is r(t) convolving
p(t) with h
b
(t,)

bb
T t p / 2 ) (
max
t =
bb
T t s s 0

=
(

=
=
1
0
max
1
0
2
) exp(
) ( ) exp(
2
1
) (
N
i
i
bb
bb
i i
N
i
i i i
T
t rect
T
j a
t p j a t r
t
t
u
t u
Received power at time t
0
Measure I r(t
0
) I
2
.

I r(t
0
) I
2
Found by summing up the multipath
powers Energy received over time duration of
multipath delay divided by
max



For wide band signal

For wide band signal
The average small-scale received power-Wide Band
Signal


E
a,
(.) Ensemble average over all possible values
of a
i
&
i
in a local area.

overbar sample average over local measurement
area.

From last 2 Eqn If a Tx signal is able to resolve
multipaths, Then Avg small scale Rx power Sum
of Avg power Rx in each MP.


Instead of a pulse, CW signal (narrowband signal )
is transmitted in to the same channel

Complex envelope c(t) =2

Instantaneous complex envelope of Rx signal is
the phasor sum



Instantaneous power is
As Rx is moved over local area changes in r(t)
Rx signal vary based on a
i
&
i

a
i
vary little &
i
vary greatly due to changes in
propagation distance Large fluctuations of r(t)
as Rx is moved over smaller distances.
r(t) is phasor sum of individual MP
Instantaneous phases of MP components
Cause large fluctuations.

Avg Rx power over a local area






r
ij
Path amplitude correlation coefficient

Overbar Time Avg for CW measurements
If MP phases are identical [cos(
i
-
j
)=0] OR

If path amplitudes are uncorrelated [r
ij
=0 ]i.e.,
r
ij
=0

Avg power of CW signal= Avg Rx power for a
wideband signal in a small-scale region.


5.3.Small-Scale Multipath Measurements

Channel Sounding Techniques

Direct RF pulse system

Spread Spectrum Sliding Correlator

Frequency Domain Channel Sounding



(i) Direct RF Pulse System
Tx repetitive pulse of width Tbb s

Rx WB pass filter (BW =2/ Tbb Hz).
amplified detected envelope detector,
displayed and stored on a high speed
oscilloscope.

Advantage: Complex off-the shelf
equipment




Disadvantage:
Interference and noise

First arriving signal trigger the oscilloscope
First arriving signal is blocked severe fading
occurs

Envelope detector phases of the individual MP
are not received
Use coherent detector





Spread Spectrum Sliding Correlator Channel
Sounding


Carrier signal "spread" over a large BW

Mix with PN sequence

Chip duration Tc, and a chip rate
Rc equal to 1/Tc, Hz




The power spectrum envelope of the Tx spread
spectrum signal is given by as







At Rx:
Spread spectrum signal filtered, despread III
ar
(identical) PN
sequence generator.

Tx chip clock > Rx chip clock mixing the chip sequences in this
fashion implements Sliding correlator
When PN code of faster chip clock catches up with slower chip clock
(2 chip sequences are aligned )Max Correlation
When not correlated the sequence will spread and narrow band
filter will reject almost all the incoming signal power
where Tbb = 1/Rbb, is the period of the baseband information.
If incoming signal is correlated Rx sequence
"despread
envelope detected Displayed on an
oscilloscope.

Different incoming multipath have different time
delays they correlate at different times

Channel impulse response convolved with the
pulse shape Displayed on the oscilloscope.

Time resolution of Multipath components is

(2 multipath signals can be resolved as long as they are 2Tc seconds apart)
Sliding correlation process gives equivalent time measurements
every time the 2 sequences are maximally correlated
Time between maximal correlations (T):
Slide factor = [transmitter chip clock rate] /[The
difference between the transmitter and receiver
chip clock rates]





Processing gain realized using NB filter BW=2(-)



Equivalent time measurement Relative times
of MP components as they are displayed on the
oscilloscope


Propagation delays are actually expanded in time
sliding correlator time dilation

The PN sequence period is



Advantage :
Reject pass band noise improve the coverage
range

Tx & Rx PN sequence synchronization is
eliminated by sliding correlator

Required Tx powers < Direct pulse system
Due to inherent Processing gain.
Disadvantage:

Measurements are not made in real time

Time required for power delay profile
measurement

It uses Non coherent detector phases of MP
can not be measured.


Frequency domain channel sounding


Measure the channel impulse response in the
frequency domain.

A vector network analyzer controls a
synthesized frequency sweeper.

S-parameter test set monitor the frequency
response of the channel.

The sweeper scans a particular frequency band
(centered on the carrier) by stepping through
discrete frequencies.
S-parameter test set transmits a known signal
level at port 1 and monitors the received signal
level at port 2.

Limitation:
Calibration b/w Tx & Rx
Non-real-Time nature of measurement.
Time varying channel Freq response will change
Erroneous impulse response
Solution Faster sweep time accomplished
reducing the number of frequency steps
sacrifices time resolution and excess delay


5.4.Parameters of Mobile Multipath Channels

Multipath channel parametrs
Mean excess delay
rms delay spread
Excess Delay Spread
Determined from power delay profile.

mean excess delay-is the first moment of power
delay profile
rms delay spread-is the square root of second
central moment of power delay profile




The maximum excess delay (X dB) of the power
delay profile Time delay during which MP
energy falls to X dB below the maximum.

0
delay excess t t =
X
signal arriving first for the delay :
dB X within is component multipath a at which delay maximum :
0
t
t
X
5.4.2.Coherence Bandwidth
rms delay spread and coherence bandwidth are
inversely proportional to each other.

Range of frequencies over which the channel can
be considered flat*channel passes equal gain
and linear phases]

Range of frequencies over which two freq
components have a strong potential for
amplitude correlation.


If the coherence BW Bc is defined as the BW over
which the frequency correlation function is
above 0.9, then



If the coherence BW Bc is defined as the BW over
which the frequency correlation function is
above 0.5, then




>
Doppler Spread and Coherence Time
Delay spread and coherence bandwidth
time dispersive nature of the channel

time varying nature of the channel Doppler
Spread and Coherence Time




Doppler Spread B
D
:
Measure of the spectral broadening caused by the time
rate of change of the mobile radio channel

Range of frequencies over which the received Doppler
spectrum is essentially non-zero. (in the range f
c
-f
d
to
f
c
+f
d
)

Amount of spectral broadening to fd v &

If the baseband signal bandwidth is much greater than
B
D
, the effects of Doppler Spread are negligible.
Slow Fading Channel

Coherence Time T
c
: the time domain dual of
Doppler Spread

Time duration over which channel impulse
response invariant.

Time duration over which 2 Rx signals have
strong potential for amplitude correlation


Tc = 1/ fm
where: f
m
is the maximum Doppler Shift= v/


If time over which the time correlation function is
above 0.5 Tc = 9/ 16f
m


Time duration during which Rayleigh fading fluctuate
widely Tc=1/f
m


In general Geometric mean of above 2 Eqns



m m
f f
T
423 . 0
16
9
2
0
= =
t
Types of small-scale Fading


Fading Effects due to MP time delay Spread


Flat fading

Const Gain & linear phase response over BW > BW of Tx
Signal

The spectral characteristics of the transmitted signal are
preserved at the receiver

Fluctuations in Gain of channel Strength of Rx signal
changes.






Flat fading channel is also called amplitude
varying channel.
Also called narrow band channel: bandwidth of
the applied signal is narrow as compared to the
channel bandwidth.
A signal undergoes flat fading if

and


C S
B B <<
t
o >>
S
T
period) (symbol bandwidth reciprocal :
S
T
signal ed transmitt the of bandwidth :
S
B
bandwidth coherent :
C
B
spread delay rms :
t
o

Frequency selective fading

Channel possesses a constant-gain and linear phase
response over a BW that is smaller than the
bandwidth of transmitted signal.
signal spectrum
channel response
received signal spectrum
f
f
f
) ( f S
C
B
Due to time dispersion of the transmitted symbols
within the channel.
Induces inter symbol interference

Frequency selective fading channels are much
more difficult to model than flat fading channels.
Since each MP has to be modeled.
For frequency selective fading

and



C S
B B >



Flat fading if



Frequency selective Fading if
t
o 10 >>
S
T
t
o 10 <
S
T
Fading effects due to Doppler Spread:

Fast Fading: The channel impulse response changes
rapidly within the symbol duration.
Cause frequency dispersion due to Doppler spreading.

A signal undergoes fast fading if

and



C S
T T >
D S
B B <
Slow Fading:
h(t) changes at a rate much slower than the
transmitted baseband signal s(t).

A signal undergoes slow fading if

and


C S
T T <<
D S
B B >>