Radio Propagation Fundamentals

LTE RPESS
Radio Propagation Fundamentals

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Module Objectives
After completing this module, the participant should be able to:

Understand basic radio propagation mechanisms

Understand fading phenomena
Calculate free space loss

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Module Contents
Propagation mechanisms
Multipath And Fading
Propagation Slope And Different Environments

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Module Contents
Propagation mechanisms
Basics: deciBel (dB)
Radio channel
Reflections
Diffractions
Scattering
Multipath And Fading
Propagation Slope And Different Environments

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

deciBel (dB) Definition

Power

P
dB = 10 log
P0

P(dB)

[ Plin. ] = 10

10

Voltages

E
dB = 20 log
E0

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E (dB)

[Elin. ] = 10

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

deciBel (dB) Conversion

Calculations in dB (deciBel)
Logarithmic scale
always with respect to a reference
dBW =
dB above Watt
dBm =
dB above mWatt
dBi
=
dB above isotropic
dBd
=
dB above dipole
dBV/m =
dB above V/m
Rule-of-thumb:
+3dB =
factor 2
+7 dB =
factor 5
+10 dB =
factor 10
-3dB =
factor 1/2
-7 dB =
factor 1/5
-10 dB =
factor 1/10

-30 dBm = 1 W
-20 dBm = 10 W
-10 dBm = 100 W
-7 dBm = 200 W
-3 dBm = 500 W

0 dBm = 1 mW
+3 dBm = 2 mW
+7 dBm = 5 mW
+10 dBm = 10 mW
+13 dBm = 20 mW
+20 dBm = 100mW
+30 dBm = 1 W
+40 dBm = 10W
+50 dBm = 100W

LTE:
UE: max. 23 dBm
eNB: typ. 43 / 46 dBm
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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Radio Channel Main Characteristics

Linear
In field strength
Reciprocal
UL & DL channel same (if in same frequency)
Dispersive
In time (echo, multipath propagation)
In spectrum (wideband channel)

Remember:
Multipath Effects
Normal / Extended CP

direct path
amplitude

echoes

delay time

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Propagation Mechanisms (1/2)

Free-space propagation
Signal strength decreases
exponentially with distance
Reflection
Specular reflection
amplitude A
phase f
polarisation

Diffuse reflection
amplitude A
phase f
phase
polarisation
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a*A (a < 1)

-f
material dependant
phase shift

a *A (a < 1)
random

specular reflection

diffuse reflection

random
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Propagation Mechanisms (2/2)

Absorption
Heavy amplitude attenuation
Material dependant phase
shifts
Depolarisation

A - 5..30 dB

Diffraction
Wedge - model
Knife edge
Multiple knife edges

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Scattering Macrocell
Scattering local to mobile
Causes fading
Small delay and angle spreads
Doppler spread causes time varying
effects
Scattering local to base station
No additional Doppler spread
Small delay spread
Large angle spread
Scattering to mobile
Remote scattering
Independent path fading
No additional Doppler spread
Large delay spread
Large angle spread

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Scattering to base station

Remote scattering

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Scattering Microcell
Many local scatterers: Large angle spread
Low delay spread
Medium or high Doppler spread

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Module Contents
Reflections, Diffractions And Scattering
Multipath and Fading
Delay Time dispersion
Angle Angular Spread
Frequency Doppler Spread
Fading Slow & Fast
Propagation Slope And Different Environments

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Multipath propagation
Radio signal propagates from A to B over multiple paths using different
propagation mechanisms
Multipath Propagation
Received signal is a sum of multipath signals
Different radio paths have different properties
Distance Delay/Time
Direction Angle
Direction & Receiver/Transmitter Movement Frequency

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Delay Time dispersion

Multipath delays due to multipath propagation
1 s 300 m path difference
LTE CP to mitigate multipath effects
CP (normal or extended) covers some 1.4 km or 20 km delay respectively
Standardized delay profiles in 3GPP specs:
TU3
typical urban at 3 km/h (pedestrians)
TU50
typical urban at 50 km/h (cars)
HT100
hilly terrain (road vehicles, 100 km/h)
RA250
rural area (highways, up to 250 km/h)

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Delay Spread

Multipath
propagation

1.

Channel impulse
response
1.

=>

2.
3. 4.

2.

f1

4th floor

f1

3rd floor

f1

2nd floor

f1

1st floor

BTS

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Delayed components in
DAS
(Distributed antenna
systems)

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Delay Spread
Typical values

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Environment

Delay Spread (s)

Macrocellular, urban

0.5-3

Macrocellular,
suburban
Macrocellular, rural

0.5

Macrocellular, HT

3-10

Microcellular

< 0.1

Indoor

0.01...0.1

0.1-0.2

HT: hilly terrain

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Angle Angular Spread

Angular spread arises due to multipath, both from local scatterers near the mobile
and near the base station and remote scatterers
Angular spread is a function of base station location, distance and environment
Angular Spread has an effect mainly on the performance of diversity reception and
adaptive antennas

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Angular Spread
Macrocell Antenna

Macrocellular Environment
= Macrocell Coverage Area

Microcell Antenna
Microcellular Environment
= Microcell Coverage Area

5 - 10 degrees in macrocellular environment

>> 10 degrees in microcellular environment
< 360 degrees in indoor environment

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Frequency Doppler Spread

With a moving transmitter or receiver, the frequency observed by the receiver will
change (Doppler effect)
Rise if the distance on the radio path is decreasing
Fall if the distance in the radio path is increasing
The difference between the highest and the lowest frequency shift is called Doppler
spread

fd =
v:
c:
f:

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v
c
f

Speed of receiver (m/s)

Speed of light (3*108 m/s)
Frequency (Hz)

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Fading
Fading describes the variation of the total pathloss ( signal level) when
receiver/transmitter moves in the cell coverage area
Fading is commonly categorised to two categories based on the phenomena causing
it
Slow fading: Caused by shadowing because of obstacles
Fast fading: Caused by multipath propagation
Time-selective fading: Short delay + Doppler
Frequency-selective fading: Long delay
Space-selective fading: Large angle

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Fading Slow & Fast

power

Rayleigh
fading

+20 dB

lognormal
fading

mean
value

- 20 dB

2 sec

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4 sec

6 sec

time

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Slow Fading Gaussian Distribution

Measurement campaigns have shown that slow fading follows Gaussian distribution
Received signal strength in dB scale (e.g. dBm, dBW)
Gaussian distribution is described by mean value m, standard deviation
68% of values are within m
95% of values are within m 2
Gaussian distribution used in planning margin calculations

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Slow Fading Gaussian Distribution

Normal / Gaussian Distribution
Standard Deviation, = 7 dB
0.07000

1
0.06000

2 2

Normal / Gaussian Distribution

0.05000

0.04000

d
0.03000

0.02000

0.01000

0.00000
-25
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-20

-15

-10

-5

10

15

20

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Fast Fading
Different signal paths interfere and affect the received signal
Rice Fading the dominant (usually LOS) path exist

Rayleigh Fading no dominant path exist

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Fast Fading Rayleigh Distribution

It can be theoretically shown that fast fading follows Rayleigh Distribution when there
is no single dominant multipath component
Applicable to fast fading in obstructed paths
Valid for signal level in linear scale (e.g. mW, W)

level (dB)
+10
0
-10
-20
-30

5m

920 MHz
v = 20 km/h
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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Fast Fading Rician Distribution

Fast fading follows Rician distribution when there is a dominant multipath component,
for example line-of-sight component combined with in-direct components
Sliding transition between Gaussian and Rayleigh
Rice-factor K = r/A: direct / indirect signal energy
K=0

Rayleigh
K >>1
Gaussian

K=0
(Rayleigh)
K=1
K=5

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Module Contents
Reflections, Diffractions And Scattering
Multipath And Fading
Propagation Slope And Different Environments
Free Space Loss
Received power with antenna gain
Propagation slope

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Free Space Loss

Free space loss proportional to 1/d2
Simplified case: isotropic antenna
Which part of total radiated power is found within surface A?
Power density S = P/A = P / 4 d2
Received power within surface A : P = P/A * A
Received power reduces with square of distance

Surface A = 4 * d2

A = 16*A
A = 4*A

d
assume surface
A= 1m2

A
d
2d
4d

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Received power with antenna gain

Ps
Gs
4 d 2

Power density at the receiving end

S=

Effective receiver antenna area

2
A eff =
GR
4

Received power

Pr = Aeff S

Pr
= Gs Gr

Ps
4 d

Pr
Ar
Gr

Ps
As
Gs
d

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Radio Propagation Fundamentals

Propagation slope
The received power equation can be formulated as:

Pr = Ps G s G r C d
where

C is a constant
is the slope factor

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C =
4

Free space = 2
Practical propagation = 2.5 ... 5

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