MOBILE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS

(ETL442)

LECTURE NOTES [Link]

(IV YEAR – I SEM)

(2024-25)

Prepared by:

Dr. Mrs. Anushka Kadage, Assistant Professor

Mr.V. B. Sutar, Assistant Professor

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering

DKTE Society’s Textile and Engineering Institute, Ichalkaranji

(An Empowered Autonomous Institution)

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 CHAPTER 2
SMALL SCALE FADING AND MULTI
PATH
Small Scale Fading
Small-scale fading is a common in wireless communication. It happens when a
signal is transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver and it experiences multiple
signal paths due to reflection, diffraction, and scattering from objects in the
environment. These signal paths can cause interference and distortion to the
signal, resulting in fluctuations of the signal strength at the receiver. Small-scale
fading is called “small-scale” because the variations occur over short distances,
such as a few centimeters to a few meters. Small-scale fading can happen very
quickly, sometimes in microseconds or [Link] is primarily caused by the multipath
propagation of the signal. Overall, small-scale fading is a common issue in
wireless communication that affects the quality of the received signal. However,
with proper mitigation techniques, it is possible to maintain reliable
communication even in the presence of small-scale fading.

Small-scale fading

Small-scale fading: is used to describe the rapid fluctuations of the amplitude of a radio signalover a 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.

 These waves are called multipath waves, combine at the receiver antenna to give a resultant
signal which can vary widely in amplitude and phase, depending on the distribution of the
intensity and relative propagation time of waves and the bandwidth of the transmitted signal.

Small-scale fading effects:

1. Rapid changes in signal strength over a small travel distance or time interval.

2. Random frequency modulation due to varying Doppler shifts on different multipath

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 signals.

3. Time dispersion caused by multipath propagation delays.

Factors influencing (causes of) small-scale fading:

 Multipath propagation: reflecting objects and scatters create a changing environment

that affects the signal in amplitude, phase and time.

 Speed of the mobile: the relative motion between the mobile and the BS causes Doppler
shifts, on each of the multipath components.

 Speed of surrounding objects: moving objects cause time-varying Doppler shifts.

 Transmission bandwidth of the signal: if the transmitted signal bandwidth is greater

than the bandwidth of the channel, the signal will be distorted.
Coherent bandwidth of the channel is a measure of the frequency difference for which thesignal is not distorted
in amplitude (the channel does not distort the signal).

Doppler shift

 Consider a mobile terminal moving at a constant

velocity v, along a path segment having length d
between points X and Y, while it receives signal from
a remote source S.

The path length difference between S and points X

and Y:
∆𝑙 = 𝑑 cos 𝜃 = 𝑣∆𝑡 cos 𝜃

where ∆𝑡 is the time required for the mobile to travelfrom X to Y.

 The phase change in the received signal

2𝜋∆𝑙 2𝜋𝑣∆𝑡
∆∅ = cos 𝜃
=
𝜆 𝜆

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 The Doppler shift can be calculated using

1 ∆∅ 𝑣
𝑓𝐷 = = cos 𝜃
2𝜋 ∆𝑡 𝜆
 The Doppler shift depends on:

4. Mobile velocity

5. Carrier frequency

6. Angle between the direction of motion and the direction of arrival of the wave

 Doppler shift is positive if the mobile is moving towards the source.

 Doppler shift is negative if the mobile is moving away from the source.

Example:

Consider a transmitter which radiates a sinusoidal carrier frequency of 1850 MHz. For a vehiclemoving at 96.6 km/h,
compute the received carrier frequency if 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.

Solution:

Given:

f = 1850 MHz,
v = 96.6 km/h = 96.6 × (1000 / 3600) = 26.82 m/s
λ = c / f = 3×108 / 1850×106 = 0.162m

(a)
The vehicle is moving directly towards the transmitter, meaning that θ = [Link] Doppler shift
in this case is positive.
Doppler frequency f v 26.82
 cos  cos(0)  165 Hz

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 D
 0.162
The received frequency = f + fD = 1850×106 + 165 = 1850.000165 MHz

(b)
The vehicle is moving directly away from the transmitter, meaning that θ = [Link] Doppler shift in
this case is negative.

Doppler frequency f v 26.82

 cos  cos(180)  165Hz

D
 0.162
The received frequency = f + fD = 1850×106 - 165 = 1849.999834 MHz

(c)
The vehicle is moving perpendicular to the angle of arrival of the transmitted signal,meaning that θ = 90o.
Doppler frequency f v 26.82
 cos  cos(90)  0 Hz

D
 0.162
There is no Doppler shift.
The received signal frequency is the same as the transmitted frequency (f = 1850 MHz).

Determining the impulse response of a channel

- Transmit a narrowband pulse into the channel

- Measure replicas of the pulse that traverse different paths between transmitter and receiver

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 A mobile radio channel may be modeled as a linear filter with a time-varying impulse response
 The time variation is due to receiver motion in space
 The filtering is caused by the summation of amplitudes and delays of multiple arriving waves,
due to multipath

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5.2 Power delay profile

 The power delay profile relates the received power of a signal through a multipath channel asa
function of the time delay.

 The total received power is the sum of the powers in the individual multipath components.

 The power delay profile can be measured empirically.

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 Time dispersion parameters are used to quantify the time-dispersive properties of multipath
channels, and can be determined form the power-delay profile.

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2.

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2.

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Statistical Models for multipath fading Channels:

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1.2

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1.3

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1.4

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Coherence bandwidth

 The delay spread is a natural phenomenon caused by reflected and scattered propagation paths
in the radio channel.

 The coherence bandwidth (Bc) is a statistical measure of the range of frequencies over which
the channel can be considered “flat”

• Spectral components within Bc pass with approximately equal gain & linear phase.

• Bc is derived from the rms delay spread (στ).

 Two sinusoids with frequency separation greater than Bc are affected quite differently by the
channel, and their amplitudes would be considered uncorrelated.

 If the coherent bandwidth (Bc) is defined as the bandwidth over which the frequency
correlation function is above 0.9 (90%), then the coherence bandwidth is
approximated by

Bc  1
50

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If the frequency correlation function is above 0.5 (50%) (relaxed definition), thenthe coherence
bandwidth is approximately

Bc  1
5




5.3 Fading effects due to multipath time delay spread

 Time dispersion due to multipath causes the transmitted signal to undergo either one of the
following:

1. Flat fading

2. Frequency selective fading

1- Flat fading

• The received signal undergoes flat fading if the channel has a constant gain and linear
phase response over a bandwidth which is greater than the bandwidth of the transmitted
signal.

• In frequency domain: BS  BC

Bs: signal bandwidth

Bc: coherence bandwidth

• In time domain: TS  

Ts: symbol period (reciprocal bandwidth)

στ: rms delay spread of channelIn

general σ𝜏 ≤ 0.1 𝑇𝑠

• Inter-symbol interference (ISI) is low (negligible)

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 • The received signal strength changes with time, due to fluctuations in the gain of
thechannel caused by multipath.

• The spectral characteristics of the transmitted signal are preserved.

• Flat fading channel is also called:

• Amplitude varying channel.

• Narrow band channel: bandwidth

of the applied signal is narrow as compared to the channel bandwidth.

• Channel modeling:

• Rayleigh flat fading channel model.

Flat fading channel characteristics

Frequency selective fading

• The channel creates frequency selective fading if the channel possesses a constant gain
and linear phase response over a bandwidth that is smaller than the bandwidth of
transmitted signal.

• In frequency domain: BS  BC

• Bs: signal bandwidth

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 • Bc: coherence bandwidth

• In time domain: TS  

• Ts: symbol period (reciprocal bandwidth)

• στ: rms delay spread

• Inter-symbol interference (ISI) is high (significant).

• Frequency selective fading is due to time dispersion of the transmitted symbols

within thechannel, and causes inter-symbol interference (ISI).

• Frequency selective fading channels are much more difficult to model than flat
fadingchannels.

• Statistic impulse response models:

• 2-ray Rayleigh fading model

• Computer generated models

• Measured impulse response

Frequency selective fading channel characteristics

Doppler Spread

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Doppler spread is a type of small-scale fading that occurs when there is relative motion between
the transmitter and the receiver. The relative motion causes a shift in the frequency of the
transmitted signal, known as the Doppler shift. The Doppler shift causes different frequency
components of the signal to arrive at the receiver with different phases and amplitudes. This
results in rapid variations in signal amplitude and phase, which can cause fading and errors in
the received signal.
The Doppler spread is a measure of the rate of change of the Doppler shift and determines the
time-varying characteristics of the channel. A higher Doppler spread indicates a faster time
variation in the channel, while a lower Doppler spread indicates a slower time variation. Doppler
spread can be mitigated by using techniques such as equalization, diversity, and adaptive
modulation. Equalization techniques are used to compensate for the time dispersion caused by
Doppler spread. Diversity techniques are used to combine multiple signal paths to mitigate the
effects of fading. Adaptive modulation techniques are used to adjust the modulation scheme and
data rate based on the channel conditions, allowing the system to adapt to changes in the channel
and maintain a reliable communication link. Doppler spread is an important consideration in the
design of wireless communication systems, particularly for mobile applications where there is
often significant relative motion between the transmitter and the receiver.
Comparison between Small Scale fading and Large Scale Fading

Parameter Small-Scale Fading Large-Scale Fading

Time variation Rapid Slow

Cause Multipath obstacle

Distance Within a few wavelengths Over several wavelengths

Affects individual symbols or

Frequency Affects the entire signal
bits

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Parameter Small-Scale Fading Large-Scale Fading

Significant variation over short

Spatial variation Gradual variation over long distances
distances

A few centimeters to a few

Typical scale Kilometers
meters

Can cause deep fades, Reduces the overall received signal

Effect on signal
interference, and distortion power

Mitigation Equalization, diversity, adaptive Power control, antenna placement,

techniques modulation repeaters, site diversity

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