Đại Học Bách Khoa TP.

HCM
Bộ Môn Viễn Thông

Môn học – THÔNG TIN DI ĐỘNG

Chapter 4 – Mobile Propagation Model –
Part II: Small-Scale Fading Channel

Presenter: Dr. Nguyen Dinh Long 1

Email: dinhlonghcmut@gmail.com
Phone: +84 947 229 599
Website: sites.google.com/view/long-dinh-nguyen Nov. 2023
Dr. Long D. Nguyen
Outline (chapters)
Introduction to Mobile Communications

Fundamentals of Mobile Communication – Cellular concept

GSM 2G, CDMA-3G, LTE-4G, NR-5G and beyond

Radio propagation – Large-scale fading & Small-scale fading

Multiple access technology – CDMA

Channel capacity, Equalization, Diversity

Emerging Mobile Communication Systems

2
References of the Presentation

This Chapter slides are modified from course materials of Dr. Ha Hoang Kha in
HCMUT and other sources.
▪ Ho Van Khuong, Thong Tin Di Dong, book.
▪ T.S. Rappaport, Wireless Communications, Prentice Hall PTR, 1996.
▪ Tallal Elshabrawy, Wireless Communications, lecture notes.

Giáo Trình chính:

▪ T.S. Rappaport, Wireless Communications, Prentice Hall PTR, 2002.

3
Introduction

Line Of Sight (LOS) Non Line Of Sight (NLOS)

4 4
Propagation Models
▪ To predict the average received signal strength at a given distance from the
transmitter - large scale propagation models, hundreds or thousands of meters
▪ Characterize received signal strength over distances from 20 m to 20 km

▪ To predict the variability of the signal strength, at close spatial proximity to a

particular location -Small scale or fading models
▪ Predict magnitude and rate (speed) of received signal strength fluctuations over short distances/time
durations
▪ “short” → typically a few wavelengths (λ) or seconds
▪ Received signal strength can vary drastically by 30 to 40 dB

5
Introduction

6 6
Content

1. Small-scale multipath fading

▪ Factors influencing small-scale fading
▪ Doppler Shift

2. Impulse response of model of a multipath channel

3. Parameters of mobile multipath channels
▪ Time dispersion parameters
▪ Coherence bandwidth and coherence time

4. Types of small-scale fading

▪ Multipath delay spread: flat and frequency selective fading
▪ Doppler spread: Fast and slow fading

5. Rayleigh and Rician distributions

6. Simulations of wireless channels
7
1. Small-scale multipath fading
100

100
90

90
80

Distance Pathloss
80

70
70

Mobile Speed 3 Km/hr 60

60

PathLoss = 137.744 + 35.225log10(dKM) 50 50

40 40
20 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 21

30
0 10 10 20 30 40 50 60 d

15
0

10

5
-10
Rapid Changes in
-20
Signal Strength over a
Lognormal Shadowing 0
-30
small traveling
Mobile Speed 3 Km/hr -5

distances
-40

Shadow Model -10

-50
20 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 21

-15
0 10 10 20 30 40 50 60
d

20
0

10

-10
0

Small-Scale Fading
-10 -20

-20

Mobile Speed 3 Km/hr

-30

-30

Jakes’s Rayleigh Fading Model

-40
-40

-50 -50

8
20 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 21

-60 d
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Multi-Path Propagation

Multi-Path in the radio channel creates small-scale fading. The three most important effects are:
▪ Rapid changes in signal strength over a small travel distance or time interval
▪ Random frequency modulation due to varying Doppler shifts on different multi-path signals
▪ Time dispersion (echoes) caused by multi-path propagation delays

9
Multi-Path Propagation

Multi-Path in the radio channel creates small-scale fading. The three most important effects are:
▪ Time dispersion (echoes) caused by multi-path propagation delays
10
Multi-Path Propagation Modeling

Power

Multi-Path
Components

τ0 τ1 τ2 Time

Multi-path results from reflection, diffraction, and scattering off environment surroundings
Note: The figure above demonstrates the roles of reflection and scattering only on multi-path 11
Multi-Path Propagation Modeling

Power

Multi-Path
Components

τ0 τ1 τ2 Time

As the mobile receiver moves in the environment, the strength of each multi-path component varies 12
12
Multi-Path Propagation Modeling

Power

Multi-Path
Components

τ0 τ1 τ2 Time

As the mobile receiver moves in the environment, the strength of each multi-path component varies
13
13
Multi-Path = Frequency-Selective
1 μs

f=1 MHz
1 0.5 0.5 1
0.5

-0.5
-1 1 μs -1

1 μs

f=500 KHz 1
1 0.5 0.5
0.5

-0.5
-1
-1 1 μs
1 μs

14
Multi-Path = Frequency-Selective

h(t) |H(f)|
0.5 0.5 1

f (MHz)

0 0.5 1 1.5 2
1 μs

▪ A multi-path channel treats signals with different frequencies differently

▪ A signal composed of multiple frequencies would be distorted by passing through such channel

15
Small-scale multipath Propagation
▪ Small-scale fading, or simply fading, is used to describe the
rapid fluctuation of the amplitude of a radio signal over short
period of time or travel distance.

▪ Fading is caused by interference between two or more versions

of the transmitted signal which arrive at the receiver at slightly
different times.

▪ Multipath waves, combine at the receiver antenna to give a

resultant signal which can vary widely in amplitude and phase,
depending on distribution of the intensity and relative
propagation time of the waves and the bandwidth of the
transmitted signal.

16
1.1. Factors Influencing Small-scale Fading
❑ Multipath propagation
▪ The presence of reflecting objects and scatterers in the channel creates a constantly changing
environment that dissipates the signal energy in amplitude, phase, and time
▪ The random phase and amplitudes of different multipath components causes fluctuations in
signal strength, including small-scale fading, signal distortion or both

❑ Speed of the mobile

▪ The relative motion between the base station and the mobile results in random frequency
modulation due to different Doppler shifts on each of the multipath components

17
1.1. Factors Influencing Small-scale Fading
❑ Speed of surrounding objects
▪ Induce a time varying Doppler shift on multipath components
▪ If the surrounding objects move at a greater rate than the mobile, this effects dominates the
small-scale fading

❑ The transmission bandwidth of the signal

▪ If the transmitted radio signal bandwidth is greater than the “bandwidth” of the multipath
channel, the received signal will be distorted
▪ The received signal strength will not fade much over a local area (i.e. the small-scale signal
fading will not be significant)

18
1. 2. Doppler Shift
S

The difference in path lengths traveled by the

wave from source S to the mobile at X and Y is Δl
Note: Assume SX, SY >>d such that angle of arrival is nearly equal at X and Y

Δl
Δl = d cosθ = vΔt cosθ
θ θ
Phase Difference due to variation X d Y
in path lengths v
2πvΔt 2πvΔt
Δφ = = cos θ
λ λ
1 Δφ v
Doppler Shift is given by fd = = cos θ
2π Δt λ
19
Doppler Shift - Example
Consider a transmitter which radiates a sinusoidal carrier frequency of 1850MHz.
For a vehicle moving 60mph, compute the received carrier frequency of the mobile
is moving
(a) Directly towards the transmitter
(b) Directly away from the transmitter
(c) In a direction which is perpendicular to the direction of arrival of the
transmitted signal

20
2. Impulse Response Model of a Multipath Channel
▪ Consider the case where the receiver moves along the ground at some constant
velocity v.

▪ For a fixed position d, the channel between the transmitter and the receiver can
be modeled as a linear time invariant system (LTI).

▪ Due to the different multipath waves, the impulse response of the liner time
invariant channel should be a function of the position of the receiver
▪ Channel impulse response can be expressed as h(d,t)

22
Impulse Response Model of a Multipath Channel
▪ The received signal

y(d , t ) = x(t )  h(d , t ) =  x( )h(d , t −  )d
−
▪ For a casual system, h(d,t) = 0 for t < 0

t
y(d , t ) = x(t )  h(d , t ) =
−
 x( )h(d , t −  )d
▪ Since the receiver moves along the ground at a constant velocity v, the position of the receiver can be
expressed as

d = vt y (vt , t ) =  x( )h(vt, t −  )d

−
23
Impulse Response Model of a Multipath Channel
❑ Since v is a constant, y(vt,t) is just a function of t, and can be expressed as

t
y(t ) =  x( )h(vt, t − )d = x(t )  h(d , t ) = x(t )  h(vt, t )
−

❑ Since v may be assumed constant over a short time (or distance) interval, let
▪ x(t) is transmitted bandpass waveform
▪ y(t) is received waveform
▪ h(t, ) is the impulse response of the time varying multipath radio channel
▪ Variable t represents the time variations due to motion
▪  represents the channel multipath delay for a fixed value of t

24
Impulse Response Model of a Multipath Channel


x(t ) = Re c(t )e 2 j fct  1
r (t ) = c(t )  hb (t , )
y (t ) = Re r (t )e 2 j f c t
 2
25
Small-Scale Multipath Propagation

▪ Excess delay: the propagation delay relative to that of shortest path

▪ As the vehicle moves over a short distance, the strength of each path varies because
the surface are complex

26
26
Excess Delay Concept
❑ Excess delay is the relative delay of the ith multipath component as compared to
the first arriving component and is denoted by i.
The first arriving multipath component has an excess time delay τ0 = 0, the
propagation delay between the transmitter and the τi = i∆τ.

27
Excess Delay Concept
▪ Discretize the multipath delay axis  of the impulse response into equal time
delay segments called excess delay bins

▪ Any number of multipath signals received within the ith bin are represented by a
single multipath component having delay i
▪ The maximum excess delay spread of the channel is NΔ
▪ This model can be used to analyze transmitted signals having bandwidths less
than 1/(2Δ)
28
Example
Assume a discrete channel impulse response is used to model urban radio
channels with excess delays as large as 100 s and microcellular channels with
excess delays not larger than 4 s .
If the number of multipath bins is fixed at 64 find:
(a) Δ
(b) Maximum bandwidth, which the two models can accurately represent.

29
Mathematical Model of Base-band Impulse Response
▪ Since the received signal in a multipath channel consists of a series of attenuated,
time-delayed, phase shifted replicas of the transmitted signal, the baseband impulse
response of a multipath channel can be expressed
N −1
hb (t , ) =  ai (t , )e   − i (t )
− j 2 fc i ( t ) +i ( t , )

i =0

▪ ai(t,) and i(t) is real amplitudes and excess delays of ith multipath component at
time t
 (t , ) = 2 f c i (t ) + i (t , )

▪ represents the phase shift due to free space propagation of the

ith multipath component, plus any additional phase shifts encountered in the
channel

31
Mathematical Model of Base-band Impulse Response

❑ If the channel impulse response is assumed to be time invariant, or is at least wide

sense stationary over a small-scale time or distance interval, channel impulse
response may be simplified as

N −1
hb (t , ) =  ai  e− ji    −  i 
i =0

▪ When measuring or predicting hb ( ) , a probing pulse p(t) which approximates a delta function is
used at the transmitter

p(t )   (t −  )

32
Mathematical Model of Base-band Impulse Response

▪ For small-scale channel modeling, the power delay profile of the channel is found by
taking the spatial average of hb (t , ) over a local area
2

▪ By making several local area measurements of hb (t , ) in different locations, it is

2

possible to build an ensemble of power delay profiles, each one representing a

possible small-scale multipath channel state

▪ The received power delay profile in a local area is given by

P(t,  )  k hb (t,  )
2

33
Power Delay Profile
The power delay profile depicts the spatial average of received power within the
multi-path channel over a radius that is comparable to the signal wavelength

34
Multi-Path Profile from a 900 MHz cellular system in San Francisco
Small-Scale Multipath Measurements
❑ Several Methods
▪ Direct RF Pulse System
▪ Spread Spectrum Sliding Correlator Channel Sounding
▪ Frequency Domain Channel Sounding

❑ These techniques are also called channel sounding techniques

35
35
Direct RF Pulse System
The channel may be probed or “sounded” by transmitting a pulse p(t) and recording the response at
the receiver
Tx

fc

Pulse Generator

RF Link

Rx

Digital
BPF Detector
Oscilloscope 36
Probing the Channel
▪ Narrowband signals

37
37
Probing the Channel
▪ Wideband signals

38
38
Example

Example of an Indoor Multi-Path Profile; RMS delay spread, mean excess delay, maximum excess delay (10 dB)

40
3. Parameters of Mobile Multi-Path Channels
▪ The power delay profile is used to derive some parameters that can help
characterize the effect of the wireless channel on signal communication
▪ Time dispersion parameters
o Mean excess delay
o RMS delay spread
o Excess delay spread (X dB)

▪ Coherence bandwidth

▪ Doppler shift: Doppler spread and coherence time

41
Time Dispersion Parameters

Mean Excess Delay

P()
 P(τ ) τ k k
τ= k

 P(τ )
k
k

RMS Delay Spread

()
2
στ = τ − τ 2

τ0 τ1 τ2 τ3 τN 
 P ( τk ) τ 2
k
τ2 = k

 P(τ )
k
k
Power Delay Profile

Note: These delays are measured relative to the first detectable signal (multi-path
component) arriving at the receiver at τ0=0

Maximum Excess Delay (XdB) or Excess Delay Spread (XdB):

Time delay during which multi-path energy falls to X dB below the maximum (Note
that the strongest component does not necessarily arrive at τ0) 42
Measured values of RMS Delay Spread

43
Types of Small-scale fading
❑ Signal parameters:
o Symbol period ( Ts )
o Baseband signal bandwidth ( Bs )

❑ Channel parameters:
o RMS delay spread ( 𝜎𝜏 )
o Coherent BW ( Bc )
o Doppler spread ( BD )
o Coherent Time ( Tc )

44
Coherence Bandwidth (BC)
❑ Range of frequencies over which the channel can be considered flat (i.e. channel passes all
spectral components with equal gain and linear phase).
▪ It is a definition that depends on RMS Delay Spread.

❑ Two sinusoids with frequency separation greater than Bc are affected quite differently by the
channel.

f1

Receiver
f2

Multipath Channel Frequency Separation: |f1-f2|

45
45
Coherence Bandwidth
A statistical measure of the range of frequencies over which the channel is can be
considered to be “flat” (i.e., a channel which passes all spectral components with
approximately equal gain and linear phase)

Coherence Bandwidth over

which the frequency
correlation function is 0.9
1
BC =
50σ τ
Coherence Bandwidth over
which the frequency correlation
function is 0.5
1
BC = 46
5σ τ 46
Time domain view Freq. domain view

x (t ) X(f)

Range of freq over

which response is flat
 delay spread Bc

High correlation of amplitude

between two different freq.
components

47
47
 48
48
Example
Calculate the mean excess delay, RMS delay spread, and the maximum excess delay
(10dB) for the multipath profile given in the figure below. Estimate 50% coherence
bandwidth (Bc) of the channel.
Would this channel be suitable for AMPS or GSM service without the use of an equalizer ?
Pr ( )

0 dB

-10 dB

-20 dB

-30 dB

0 1 2 5  (  s) 49
Doppler Spread and Coherence Time
▪ Doppler spread and coherence time are parameters which describe the time varying nature of the
channel
▪ Doppler spread BD (=fm) is a measure of spectral broadening due to the Doppler shift associated
with mobile motion
▪ Coherence time is a statistical measure of the time duration over which the channel impulse
response is essentially invariant

Coherence time is inversely Coherence time over which

proportional to Doppler the time correlation
spread function is 0.5
1 9
TC  TC 
fm 16πf m

where fm is the maximum Doppler shift given by fm=v/λ

A Common Rule: TC =
9 1 0.423
= 51
16πf m f m fm
4. Type of Small-scale Fading
❑ The time dispersion and frequency dispersion mechanism in a mobile radio
channel lead to four possible distinct effects, which are manifested depending on
the nature of the transmitted signal, the channel and the velocity

❑ Multipath delay spread leads to time dispersion and frequency selective fading

❑ Doppler spread leads to frequency dispersion and time selective fading

53
Flat Fading Vs Frequency Selective Fading

P()
Flat Fading Power Delay Profile

BS  BC TS  σ τ
A Common Rule of Thumb: τ0 τ1 τN 
TS>10σt ➔ Flat fading Symbol Time (Digital Communication) TS

1 0 1 + Minimal
Wireless
Channel ISI
+

τ0 τN 54
τa
Flat Fading

BS  BC TS is the reciprocal bandwidth

TS   BS is the bandwidth
55
Frequency Selective Fading
Frequency
P()
Selective Fading Power Delay Profile

BS  BC TS  σ τ
A Common Rule of Thumb: τ0 τ1 τ2 τ3 τN 
TS<10σt ➔ Frequency Selective
Fading Symbol Time (Digital Communication) TS

1 0 1 + Significant
Wireless
Channel ISI
+

τ0 τa τN
56
Flat Fading Vs Frequency Selective Fading
.

57
Frequency Selective Fading

BS  BC TS   

A common rule of thumb is that a channel is frequency selective if    0.1TS

58
Flat Fading Vs Frequency Selective Fading
.

59
Slow Fading Vs Fast Fading
P( 0,t)
Power Delay Profile
P()
P( 0,TC)P( ,2T )
0 C

P( 0,3TC)
P( 0,KTC)

τ0 
0 TC 2TC 3TC KTC 

▪ Consider a wireless channel comprised of a single path component.

▪ The power delay profile reflects average measurements

▪ P(τ0) shall vary as the mobile moves

Fast Fading Slow Fading

TS  TC BS  BD TS  TC BS  BD
Frequency dispersion (time
selective fading)

60
Slow Fading Vs Fast Fading

61
Type of Small-scale Fading
❑ Signal parameters:
Bandwidth,
symbol period

❑ Channel parameters:
RMS delay spread,
Doppler spread

62
Type of Small-scale Fading

63
5. Clarke’s Model for Flat Fading
z
Assumptions: y

▪ Mobile traveling in x direction

▪ Vertically polarized wave

in x-y
▪ Multiple waves in the x-y plane arrive at the mobile plane
antenna at the same time
α
▪ Waves arrive at different angles α
x

For N waves incident at the mobile antenna

Each wave arriving at an angle αn will experience a different Doppler shift fn

v
 Ez = E0  Cn cos ( 2πfc t + θn )
N
f n = cos αn θn = 2πf n t + φn
λ n =1

E0 amplitude of the local average E-field

Cn random variable representing the amplitude of individual waves
fc carrier frequency 64
φn random phase shift due to distance traveled by the nth wave
Clarke’s Model for Flat Fading

 N   N 
E z ( t ) = E0   Cn cos θn  cos ( 2πf c t ) − E0   Cn sinθn  sin ( 2πf c t )
 n =1   n =1 

Ez ( t ) = Tc ( t ) cos ( 2πfc t ) − Ts ( t ) sin ( 2πfc t )

 N   N 
Tc ( t ) = E0   Cn cos ( 2πf n + φn )  Ts ( t ) = E0   Cn sin ( 2πf n + φn ) 
 n =1   n =1 

Given that:
▪ Φn uniformly distributed over 2π
▪ N is sufficiently large (i.e., the central limit theorem is applicable)
Therefore:
Both Tc(t) and Ts(t) may be modeled as:
Gaussian Random Processes 65
Clarke’s Model for Flat Fading
Ez ( t ) = Tc ( t ) cos ( 2πfc t ) − Ts ( t ) sin ( 2πfc t )
Tc ( t ) cos ( 2πfc t )

E z ( t ) = Tc2 ( t ) + Ts2 ( t ) = r ( t )

−Ts ( t ) sin ( 2πfc t ) Ez ( t ) = r ( t ) cos ( 2πfc t + ψ ( t ) )

N
22: Average received power
If C 2
n =1 T =T =σ =E 2
2
c s
2 2 2
0

Power received at mobile antenna E z ( t ) = r

n =1 2 2

 r  r2 
 exp  − 2  0  r  
p(r) = σ2
Rayleigh
 2σ 
 Distribution
 0 r 0 66
Rayleigh Fading Distribution
z
y
Main Assumption:
- No LOS
- All waves at the mobile receiver experience dα in x-y
approximately the same attenuation plane

α
x
N
Ez = E0  Cn cos ( 2πfc t + θn )
0.6065/σ
n =1 p(r)
N
constant
C
n =1
2
n =1

 r  r2 
 2 exp  − 2  0  r  
p(r) = σ  2σ 
 r 0
 0 r
σ
σ2: Time average received power before evelope detection
σ : rms value of received voltage before evelope detection
67
Rayleigh Fading Statistics
R
 R2 
Probability the received signal does Pr ( r  R ) =  p ( r ) dr = 1 − exp  − 2 
not exceed a value R 0  2σ 


Mean value of the Rayleigh π
rmean = E  r  =  rp ( r ) dr = σ = 1.2533σ
distribution 0
2


π
σ = E  r  − E  r  =  r p ( r ) dr − σ
2 2 2 2 2
Variance of the Rayleigh distribution r 2
0

 π
σ r 2 = σ 2  2 −  = 0.4292σ 2
 2

rmedian
Median of the Rayleigh distribution 1
2
=  p ( r ) dr  r
0
median = 1.177σ
68
Example
▪ Consider a channel with Rayleigh fading and average received power Pr=20 dB. Find the probability
that the received power is below 10 dB.

▪ Ans: 0.095

69
Rician Fading Distribution
z
Main Assumption: y
- LOS
- There is a dominant wave component at the mobile
receiver in addition to experience multiple waves that dα in x-y
experience approximately the same attenuation plane

α
x

 r  r 2 + A 2   Ar 
 2 exp  −  I0  2  A  0,0  r  
p(r) = σ  2σ   σ 
2

 r 0
 0
A : Peak amplitude of the dominant signal
I(.): Modified Bessel function of the first kind and zero-order
2σ2: Time average received power of the non-dominant components 70
Bessel function

71
Rician & Rayleigh Fading

Define K called the Ricean Factor: A2 A2

The ratio between the deterministic signal K = 2  K ( dB ) = 10 log 2
power and the power of the non-dominant waves 2σ 2σ

p(r) K=-∞ dB

Rayleigh
Distributio
n
K=6 dB

72
Level Crossing and Fading Statistics

73
Level Crossing and Fading Statistics

▪ The level crossing rate (LCR) is defined as the expected rate at which the Rayleigh
fading envelope, normalized to the local rms signal level, crosses a specified level in
a positive-going direction
▪ The number of level crossing per second is given by


N R =  rp ( R, r ) dr = 2 f m  e −   = R Rrms
2

where
r is time derivative of r(t) (the slope)
p ( R, r ) is the joint density function of r and r at r = R
Rrms = 2 2 rms signal level

74
Example
▪ For a Rayleigh fading signal, compute the positive-going level crossing rate for
when the maximum Doppler frequency is 20 Hz  = 1
▪ What is the maximum velocity of the mobile for this Doppler frequency if the
carrier frequency is 900 MHz?

Solution:
▪ Use the equation for LCR
NR = 2 ( 20)(1) e−1 = 18.44
▪ Use equation of Doppler frequency

v = f D = 20 (1 3) = 6.66m / s

75
Level Crossing and Fading Statistics
▪ The average fade duration is defined as the average period of time for which the
received signal is below a specified level R.

1
▪ For a Rayleigh fading signal, it is given by = Pr  r  R
NR

1
Pr  r  R  =  i
T i
R

(
=  p ( r ) dr = 1 − exp −  2 )
0

▪ So, the average fade duration can be expressed as

2
e −1
=
 f D 2
76
Example
▪ Find the average fade duration for threshold levels  = 0.01
when the Doppler frequency is 200 Hz

Solution
▪ Average fade duration is
0.012
e −1
= = 19.9 s
( 0.01) 200 2

77
6. Simulation of Fading Channel

78
Simulation of Fading Channel

79
Simulation of Fading Channel

80
Simulation of Fading Channel

81
Simulation of Fading Channel

82