Macroscopic Diversity in Frequency Reuse Radio Systems

Macroscopic diversity is a technique that can facilitate high quality and ubiquitous communications between low-power portable radiotelephones and data terminals, and radio base stations (ports) that are connected to the local network. It uses radio signals from several base stations to mitigate the effect of shadow fading, a variation of signal strength over space created by the presence of buildings, foliage, and terrain variations. With a path loss exponent of four and a shadow fading standard deviation of 10 dB, four-branch macroscopic diversity results in a 13 dB improvement in signal strength and a 15 dB improvement in signal to cochannel interference ratio for high user capacity interference-limited operation. (Both figures are for 99 percent statistical coverge of the service area.) The improvement in signal to cochannel interference ratio is equivalent to a factor-of-five savings of spectrum.     

室内无线电波传播实验研究

基于对数距离损耗模型,实验研究了普通会议室这一典型室内环境的电波传播特性。通过对传播损耗的测量数据的分析,给出了普通会议室环境下的路径损耗因子和相应的阴影衰落标准差,为室内无线通信系统设计提供了依据。     

A New Empirical Formula for Handover Rate in Microcellular Systems

In this paper, we propose a new empirical formula for handover rate as a function of base stations separation, standard deviation of shadow fading, path loss exponent, averaging distance, and correlation distance. The handover initiation algorithm is based on averaged signal strength measurements using relative signal strength with hysteresis margin approach. We generate the data through computer simulations for the average number of handovers referred to as handover rate, for the practical range of path loss exponent and standard deviation of shadow fading. The proposed formula provides for a practical design tool to optimize the handover initiation performance under varied propagation environments.     

Outage Probability in Mobile Telephony Due to Multiple Log-Normal Interferers

The mobile radio channel is characterized by three important factors: path losses larger than free space, fading typically taken as Rayleigh, and shadowing generally characterized as lognormal. For cellular systems, in order to determine acceptable reuse distances between base stations and to compare modulation methods, the probability of unacceptable cochannel interference (outage probability) has to be determined in the realistic situation where both fading and shadowing occur. In this paper, the average outage probability is computed for centrally located base stations when multiple log-normal interferers are present. This is done for both the mobile-to-base and base-to-mobile communication links. An unexpected result of this study is that the outage probabilities for the two cases do not differ in a significant way. Cumulative probability curves of the short-term average-signal-toaverage-interference ratio (SIR) are presented for a variety of system parameters: channel set number, propagation law exponent (γ), and dB spread (σ) of the log-normal distribution for the signal and interferers. An important observation is the large sensitivity of the performance curves to the propagation parameters: for a system with seven channel sets with a 10 dB SIR threshold, the average outage probability varies from 10 percent forgamma = 3.7, sigma = 6dB, to 70 percent forgamma = 3, sigma = 14dB. Alternatively, for a fixed outage objective of 10 percent, the required SIR threshold value ranges from -17 dB to 11 dB, depending on the propagation parameters. These variations make it imperative that accurate measurements of these parameters be obtained for the different service areas. Outage probabilities are also easily related to specific modulation methods and diversity approaches; detailed results are given for several representative cases.     

Nuisance Parameters and Location Accuracy in Log-Normal Fading Models

The ability to accurately locate devices in wireless communication networks is of growing interest. Many of the position algorithms deployed in such networks are completely, or partially, based on received signal strength (RSS) measurements. However, the role played by nuisance parameters in RSS-based positioning algorithms has been largely overlooked. In this work we focus on a key nuisance parameter of such algorithms, the propagation path loss exponent of the log-normal fading model. We show how this nuisance parameter can have a significant impact on the location accuracy of RSS-based algorithms which assume log-normal fading, and how geometrical distributions of the reference nodes can be found where the error in the location estimate becomes unbounded. The analysis and results reported here help identify algorithms and geometric configurations of the reference nodes where an a priori measurement campaign related to the propagation model would be important     

Experimental analysis of the joint statistical properties ofazimuth spread, delay spread, and shadow fading

Empirical results characterizing the joint statistical properties of the local azimuth spread (AS), the local delay spread (DS), and the shadow (slow) fading component are presented. Measurement data from typical urban, bad urban, and suburban (SU) environments have been analyzed. It is found that a log-normal distribution accurately fits the distribution function of all the investigated parameters. The spatial autocorrelation function of both AS, DS, and shadow fading can be modeled with an exponential decay function. However, for SU environments the spatial autocorrelation function is better characterized by a composite of two exponential decaying functions. A positive cross correlation is found between the AS and the DS, while both parameters are negatively correlated with shadow fading. All essential parameters required for the implementation of a simulation model considering the joint statistical properties of the AS, DS, and shadow fading are provided     

On the SIR of a cellular infrared optical wireless system for an aircraft

In this paper, first, path loss models are developed for infrared optical wireless transmission inside an aircraft cabin. Second, a cellular network in the aircraft is considered and signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) maps are determined via simulation. For this purpose, a Monte Carlo ray-tracing (MCRT) simulation is performed in a geometric computer-aided design (CAD) cabin model with defined position, azimuth (AZ), elevation (EL) and field of view (FOV) properties of transmitters and receivers. Mathematical models are developed for line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path losses along particular paths, including estimation of the path loss exponent and the shadowing component. The shadowing is modeled according to a log-normal distribution with zero mean and standard deviation ?. The validity of this model is confirmed in the paper. It is shown that irradiance distribution under LOS conditions experiences an attenuation with a path loss exponent of 1.92 and a shadowing standard deviation of 0.81dB. In NLOS conditions, however, the path loss exponent varies, depending on the nature of the NLOS cases considered. The presented NLOS scenarios yield path loss exponent values of 2.26 and 1.28, and shadowing standard deviation values of 1.27dB and 0.7dB, respectively. Finally, the cabin is divided into cells and SIR maps are presented for different frequency reuse factors. It is shown that at the edges of the circular cells with diameter of 2.8m, a SIR of -5.5dB is achieved in a horizontal cross section of the cabin for frequency reuse of 1, and -2dB and 3dB for frequency reuse factors of 2 and 3, respectively. This means that in an aircraft cabin, for reuse factors less than three, viable communication at the cell edges is not feasible without additional interference avoidance or interference mitigation techniques.     

UHF fading in factories

The authors detail the results of narrowband propagation measurements performed at five factories. The extensive empirical data indicate that path loss is dependent upon local surroundings and is log-normally distributed, temporal fading is Rician, and small-scale signal fluctuations due to receiver motion are primarily Rayleigh, although Rician and log-normal distributions fit some of the data. Shadowing effects of common factory equipment likely to obstruct indoor radio paths are also examined     

Experimental Study of a Fixed WiMAX Network at 2.62 GHz

Field measurements of signal strength is one of the basic techniques for coverage determination of a cellular network. In this paper, we report on the experimental study of the signal strength measurements in a typical worldwide interoperability for microwave access network operating at 2.62 GHz installed for fixed wireless access in the district of Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. The experimental data are analyzed for deriving characteristic parameters of the radio propagation environment. The characteristic parameters include path loss exponent and standard deviation of shadow fading. Having derived the characteristic parameters, we propose path loss models for the cellular network. The study also aims at the determination of network coverage for the given system parameters. Results and their analysis are utilized for network planning and optimization of the system parameters for the installed cellular network.     

Degradation in FH-MFSK mobile radio system capacity due to Rayleighfading and log-normal shadowing

A frequency-hopped multilevel frequency-shift-keying (FH-MFSK) system has been proposed for digital mobile radio communications. The performance of the system is evaluated by studying average probability of error caused by transmission impairments. The degradation in performance due to Rayleigh fading and log-normal shadowing environments is determined. With perfect transmission, where the degradation in the system performance is due to mutual interference between users only, the system can accommodate up to 209 simultaneous users at an average bit error rate of 10^-3. The system capacity decreases to 110 users as a result of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), mutual interference, frequency-selective Rayleigh fading, and log-normal shadowing with normalized area mean of 20 dB and standard deviation of 6 dB     

Path attenuation statistics influenced by orientation of rain cells

The influence of path azimuth on fade and space diversity statistics associated with propagation along earth-satellite paths at a frequency of 18 GHz is examined. The approach utilizes the methods employed by Goldhirsh and Robison [1], and Goldhirsh [2], in which a radar rain reflectivity data base obtained during the summer of 1973 is injected into a modeling program and the attenuation along parallel earth-satellite paths are obtained for a conglomeration of azimuths. In this work the statistics are separated into two groupings: one pertaining to earth-satellite paths oriented in the northwest-southeast and the other in the northeast-southwest quadrants using a fixed elevation angle of45/deg. The latter case shows fading to be greater with a degraded space diversity suggesting rain cells to be elongated along this direction. Great circle distance intervals along which the path attenuations are greater than a fixed threshold level (i.e., 2 dB) are defined here as "attenuation cell sizes." These cell dimensions are analyzed for both sets of quadrants and are found to have average values which are larger by 2 km in the northeast-southwest quadrants; a result consistent with the fade and space diversity results. Examination of the wind direction for the 14 rain days of data analyzed shows good correlation of the average or median wind directions with the directions of maximum fading and degraded space diversity.     

Mobile radio propagation in Auckland at 76 MHz

A series of field trials in Auckland at 76 MHz have confirmed that propagation path loss is normally distributed and may be characterised by a fourth-power-law distance dependency. The path loss standard deviation has been found to be dependent on the mobile terminal's environment and on frequency, but is essentially independent of base station antenna height and path length. The excess path loss over plane earth predictions and the standard deviation of path loss have been measured as 14.6, 5.0, 0.8 and 1.0 dB and 6.2, 5.2, 3.7 and 5.0 dB for urban, light urban, suburban and rural environments, respectively.     

Cross-polarization coupling measured for 800 MHz radio transmission in and around houses and large buildings

The scatterers and reflectors that produce multipath propagation in the portable radiotelephone environment also scatter energy from the transmitted polarization into the orthogonal polarization. This cross-polarization coupling improves the signal quality on portable radio links by mitigating the effects of random antenna orientation and by providing an additional signal path for diversity combining. Measurements were made of cross-polarization coupling at 800 MHz within and around eight suburban houses and within two commercial buildings. Nearly complete coupling between polarization was seen for all propagation paths except for a few residential paths having high co-polarized signal levels. Because of the high cross-polarization coupling, random orientation of portable radio sets will not cause significant degradation of signal quality.     

Measurements and Statistical Modeling of 900 MHz Radio Propagation Channels for Microcellular and Personal Communications in Tunnels

This paper reports the results of measurements of 900 MHz narrow-band radio wave propagation in four tunnels with pedestrians and vehicles. Analysis of the measured data files shows that the power distance factor ranges from 1.87 to 4.44. The power attenation rate with distance is insensitive to the location of the transmit antenna in the cross section of a tunnel, but the transmit antenna insertion loss is. The log-normal distribution fits slow variation of the received signals. The Racian distribution closely describes fast fading in the straight sections of tunnels. However, the Rayleigh distribution does not fit the fast fading in the curved sections of tunnels, as expected.     

An empirical relationship for path diversity gain

Existing 15.3 and 16 GHz path diversity gain data for earth-space propagation paths are used to generate an empirical relationship for diversity gain as a function of terminal separation distance and single terminal fade depth. The agreement between the resulting closed form expression and the data is within 0.75 dB in all cases.     

Ricean $K$-Factors in Narrow-Band Fixed Wireless Channels: Theory, Experiments, and Statistical Models

Fixed wireless channels in suburban macrocells are subject to fading due to scattering by moving objects such as windblown trees and foliage in the environment. When, as is often the case, the fading follows a Ricean distribution, the first-order statistics of fading are completely described by the corresponding average path gain and Ricean K-factor. Because such fading has important implications for the design of both narrow-band and wideband multipoint communication systems that are deployed in such environments, it must be well characterized. We conducted a set of 1.9-GHz experiments in suburban macrocell environments to generate a collective database from which we could construct a simple model for the probability distribution of K as experienced by fixed wireless users. Specifically, we find K to be lognormal, with the median being a simple function of season, antenna height, antenna beamwidth, and distance and with a standard deviation of 8 dB. We also present plausible physical arguments to explain these observations, elaborate on the variability of K with time, frequency, and location, and show the strong influence of wind conditions on K.     

Space and frequency diversity measurements of the 1.7 GHz indoorradio channel using a four-branch receiver

The practical space and frequency diversity performance achievable inside a building at 1.75 GHz under fading conditions due to the motion of a portable terminal and due to the movement of people are investigated. Data are collected using a four-branch dual-frequency envelope receiver positioned throughout one floor of a university building of common construction type. The measurement environment is characterized for large-scale path loss and wall transmission loss. Envelope cross correlations are calculated, and performance of diversity is measured for various frequency separations and antenna spacings which would be applicable given the physical size of portable telephones and data terminals. Two-branch space diversity is directly compared to two-branch frequency diversity and to four-branch hybrid diversity based on simultaneous measurements of each using selection combining. The distributions of correlations and diversity gain at different locations are also investigated. Results indicate that two- and four-branch diversity can be a very effective way to combat signal fading for portable terminals in an indoor radio environment     

基于机器学习和卫星图像的路径损耗预测

基于反向传播神经网络（back propagation neural network,BPNN）构建了一种路径损耗预测模型.通过卫星图像的红、绿、蓝（red, green and blue,RGB）通道的颜色信息来表征无线通信电波传播路径的环境特征,结合路测点与基站的距离特征构建数据集,迭代训练网络参数,以预测传播路径损耗.结果表明,对跨基站路测点的预测结果与实测数据之间的相关系数达到0.83,绝对平均误差控制在0.66 dB,标准差控制在6.65 dB,说明在缺乏某一场景的详细模型和材质参数时,本文模型也能可靠预测无线通信电波的传播路径损耗.此外,本文信道模型与传统信道建模方法多方面的对比与分析表明,本文模型在相同计算资源下可以提供和传统信道建模方法相差很小的预测结果,同时大大缩短预测所需的时间,说明本文模型对传播路径损耗做出快速预测的能力可以用于无线通信网络系统的优化.     

Studies of within-the-horizon propagation at 9300 Mc

Propagation characteristics of radio signals in the 9300-Mc frequency range were investigated over a 113-km tropospheric within-the-horizon path in Eastern Colorado. Special attention was given to the short-term fading characteristics of the received carrier envelopes and to the bandwidth capability of the medium in this frequency range, which was studied by the comparison of amplitude variations of two CW carriers separated by 100 Mc in frequency. For this purpose, correlation coefficients between carrier envelopes as well as the distributions of carrier amplitude ratios were analyzed. Although these parameters are related, the amplitude ratio has some advantages as an indicator of selective fading phenomena for within-the-horizon paths. By sampling the 9250 and 9350 Mc instantaneous carrier amplitudes at the rate of one per second, an over-all value of 0.91 was obtained for their cross-correlation coefficient. The standard deviation of the amplitude ratios expressed in db at 9250 and 9350 Mc averaged 0.76 db, with a maximum hourly value of 1.81 db. These results include the effect of space diversity, as separate antennas were used for transmission and reception of the two carriers, but they support the feasibility of wide-band modulation techniques for within-the-horizon paths if judged by the statistics of amplitude variations at discrete frequencies at the limits of the band considered. Short-term and long-term fading characteristics at 9300 Mc are similar to the ones previously observed on lower frequencies over this path. An analysis of prolonged space-wave fadeouts in this frequency range resulted in fadeout depths up to 25 db below weekly transmission loss medians, approximately log-normal distributions of fadeout durations, and the expected diurnal variations of fadeout occurrence typical of a continental climate.     

Review of Wireless Personal Communications Radio Propagation Models in High Altitude Mountainous Areas at 2.6 GHz

This paper presents five commonly used radio propagation models (RPMs) which are suitable for the prediction of path loss in macrocell environments of LTE wireless communication systems. These RPMs’ application in high altitude mountainous areas networks (HAMANETs) environment requires further validation and studies. Through using the measured path loss in the HAMANETs at 2.6 GHz to calculate the predicted value of the five RPMs and the measured value’s mean error (ME), root mean square error, and error standard deviation (ESTD), we verified the predicted value of the SPM model that is closer to the actual measurement. On this basis, the empirical propagation model in HAMANETs environment is corrected. When correcting, a method to calculate base station’s effective antenna height and propagation distance is provided by using the altitude above sea level data. This method can reduce the error that the mountainous areas are simplified to the flat-terrain in the existed propagation models. A linear least square method is used to calculate the optimal propagation model. Finally, the ME is the smallest, and the ESTD is less than 8 dB, which indicate that the corrected propagation model is more suitable for the actual environmental path loss’s prediction. The results show that the path loss factor of the test area is about 65 dB, including the influence of the high altitude, mountains, vegetation, and air humidity in HAMANETs environment. The study results can provide useful advice to the evaluation and verification of personal wireless communications in the HAMANETs. Furthermore, using the correction method proposed in this paper can correct propagation models suitable for the different propagation environments to improve the accuracy and efficiency of wireless network optimization.