Wireless Communications Homework #1 Solutions

Prof. Mostofi
1. Consider a wireless communications system with the following parameters:

• transmitted power: +20 dBm

• minimum usable received power: −100 dBm
• transmitting antenna gain: 10 dB
• receiving antenna gain: 0 dB
• carrier frequency: 1 GHz

(a) What is the range (the distance over which the wireless system will work) in free space?
(b) Assume the signal propagates over an ideal flat surface with reflection coefficient of −1.
Compute the range for a transmitting antenna height of ht = 25 ft and a receiving antenna
height of hr = 6 ft, and compare with part (a).

Solution:

1. (a) From the Friis formula,

 2
Pr λ
= gt gr
Pt 4πd
Pr,dBm − Pt,dBm = −100 − 20 = −120 dB, so Pr /Pt = 10−12 . f = 1 GHz gives λ = 0.3
m. gt = 10, gr = 1.
λ gt gr
r
d= = 75.49 km
4π Pr /Pt

(b) For the ground reflection case,

Pr (ht hr )2
≈ gt gr
Pt d4
Using 0.3048 m = 1 ft,
1/4
(ht hr )2

d= gt gr = 6.64 km
Pr /Pt
which is 8.8% of the range of part (a).

2. Consider the situation in the figure below where a mobile station is moving in the vicinity of two
local scatters, each with a reflection coefficient of 0.5. The reflection coefficient is the ratio of the
amplitude of the reflected wave to the direct wave. Let Vr represent the amplitude of the received
direct path. Let the transmitted signal be s(t) = cos(wt).

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 path B

path A  v


path C

(a) Derive an expression for the resultant received signal from paths A, B, and C.
For the next two parts, you may assume the following:
• τA = τB = τC , i.e., the time delays of all paths are the same
• θ = 30◦ (remains constant over our region of interest)
• v = 60km/hr
• fc = 900MHz
(b) Plot the amplitude variation due to multipath fading and calculate the maximum Doppler
frequency (take the delays to be zero).
(c) How far apart (in distance) do the nulls in the signal occur?

Solution:
2. (a) The received signal is
S(t) = Vr cos [(ω − ωd )(t − τA )] + 0.5Vr cos [(ω + ωd cos θ)(t − τB )]
+0.5Vr cos [(ω + ωd cos θ)(t − τC )]
v
where ωd = ω is the maximum Doppler frequency.
c
(b) Let τA = τB = τC = 0. We have
S(t) = Vr cos [(ω − ωd )t] + Vr cos [(ω + ωd cos θ)t]
1 − cos θ
     
1 + cos θ
= 2Vr cos ωd t · cos ω − ωd t
2 2
α+β α−β
using cos α + cos β = 2 cos · cos . So the envelope
2 2
  
1 + cos θ
r(t) = 2Vr cos ωd t ,
2
and there is a Doppler frequency shift in the carrier of
1 − cos θ 1 − cos θ
ω∆ = − ωd or f∆ = − fd .
2 2

2
 2

1.5
r(t)/Vr

0.5

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Time [s]

v = 60 km/hour and fc = 900 MHz gives

v 6 × 104 /3600
fd = fc · = 9 × 108 · = 50 Hz.
c 3 × 108
√
3
cos θ = cos 30◦ = .
2
So " √ ! #
50 3
r(t) = 2Vr cos 2π · 1+ ·t ,
2 2
and √
3
1−
f∆ = − 2 · 50 = −3.35 Hz.
2
Then the envelope variation |r(t)| is as shown.
(c) The nulls occur when the argument of the cosine term above is equal to (2n+1) π2 for integer
n, or, equivalently, the difference in phase should be π. Let d = vz t bet the distance the
mobile travels in time t. We can then solve for the distance traveled as follows:
(using vz = (60 km/hr)/(3600 sec/hr) = 16.67 m/s)
√ !
50 3
π = 2π · 1+ ∆t
2 2
∆d = vz ∆t
1
= (16.67) √ = 17.9 cm
(50)(1 + 3/2)

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3. Consider a mobile user moving slowly in a residential area, where there are many random paths
arriving at many random angles. Assume there is no large scale signal variation over the distance
interval of motion. Assume that from subjective listening tests, the quality of the radio link is
acceptable if the signal level falls below the minimum usable signal threshold only 1% of the
time. How many dB must the mean of the signal level exceed the minimum usable signal level
to ensure acceptable signal quality?
Solution:

3. The cumulative distribution function for the Rayleigh random variable is

Z R
2 /2P
Pr (r ≤ R) = f (r)dr = 1 − e−R
−∞

Let the threshold be Rt , then:

2
1 − e−Rt /2P ≤ 0.01
Rt2
≤ − ln 0.99
√2P √
P ≥ Rt / −2 ln 0.99 = 7.053Rt
√
Since the mean M = 1.25 P , we need
M
M ≥ 1.25 · 7.053 · Rt = 8.8163Rt or ≥ 8.8163
Rt
so the mean must exceed the threshold by 20 log10 8.8163 = 18.9 dB.

4. The power sum of N uncorrelated log-normal interference signals is

N
X N
X
I= Ik = 10Xk /10 ,
k=1 k=1

where Xk is Gaussian distributed with mean µk and variance σk2 . Unfortunately there is no simple
analytical formula for the distribution of I. A general approach is to approximate I by another
log-normal variable,
Iˆ = 10X/10 ,
where X is Gaussian distributed with some mean µ and variance σ 2 . For Xk ’s with small vari-
ances, a good choice of µ and σ can be obtained by equating the mean and variance of I and
ˆ
I.

(a) Assume µk and σk are the same for all k and are equal to µ1 and σ1 , find µ and σ in terms
of µ1 and σ1 using the above criterion. (Hint: I = 10X/10 = eαX , E[I n ] = E[enαX ], where
α = ln 10/10.)

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 (b) Compute µ and σ for N = 6, µ1 = 1 and σ1 = 4 using the result of (a).
(c) Test this approximation with computer simulation (MATLAB is recommended). Generate
many samples of I using the data given in (b), then plot the pdf of 10 log I. Compare with
N (µ, σ). Repeat for σ1 = 10. Comment on the results.
Solution:
4. (a) Let α = ln 10/10, then
Y = 10Z/10 = eln(10 ) = eZ/10·ln 10 = eαZ .
Z/10

The expectation of Y n for Z ∼ (µ, σ) can be computed as follows:

E[Y n ] = E[enαZ ]
1
Z
2 2
= enαZ · √ e−(z−µ) /2σ dz
2πσ
1
Z
2
nαµ+(nασ) /2 2 2 2
= e √ e−(z−(µ+nασ )) /2σ dz
2πσ
nαµ+(nασ)2 /2
= e
So
ˆ = eαµ+(ασ) /2
E[I]
2
(1)
ˆ = E[Iˆ2 ] − E[I]
V ar[I] ˆ2
2 2
= e2αµ+2(ασ) − e2αµ+(ασ)
2 2
= e2αµ+(ασ) e(ασ) − 1 (2)
and
N
X 2 /2
E[I] = E[Ik ] = N · eαµk +(ασk ) (3)
k=1
XN  
2αµk +(ασk )2 (ασk )2
V ar[I] = V ar[Ik ] = N · e e −1 (4)
k=1

By equating (1)(3) and (2)(4) respectively, we have the following equations:

2 /2 2 /2
eαµ+(ασ) = N · eαµk +(ασk ) (5)
   
2αµ+(ασ)2 2 2 2
e e(ασ) − 1 = N · e2αµk +(ασk ) e(ασk ) − 1 (6)
which yields (divide (6) by the square of (5) to get σ):
2
!
e(ασk ) − 1
(ασ)2 = ln 1 + (7)
N
α2 2
αµ = αµk + (σk − σ 2 ) + ln N (8)
2

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 (b) Substitute N = 6, µk = 1 and σk = 4 into equations (7)&(8), we get σ = 1.947 and
µ = 10.187.
(c) The pdf curves agree very well for small standard deviations, e.g. σk = 4, but differ greatly
for large standard deviations, e.g. σk = 10. It suggests that this approximation method only
applies to sum of log-normals with small variances.
5. Large scale signal variation can be approximated by a log-normal distribution with a standard
deviation, σs . Interference also can be approximated by a log-normal distribution with a different
standard deviation, σi . Let the signal power be represented by S and the interference power by
I. The quantities S and I are independent. Define
s = 10logS and i = 10logI
then s and i are normally distributed with means s̄ and ī and standard deviations σs and σi . The
S/I ratio in dB thus becomes s − i and the a quantity of interest often is
p = Pr {s − i < γ}
where γ is a signal-to-interference threshold for a system in dB. Derive an expression for p in
terms of a function of s̄, ī, σs , σi and γ.
Solution:
5. Assume s and i are uncorrelated, then s−i will be Gaussian with mean s̄− ī and variance σs2 +σi2 .
So Z γ (x−(s̄−ī))2
1 − 2 2
p= p
2
e 2(σs +σi ) dx
2
2π(σs + σi )
−∞
x−(s̄−ī)
Substituting y = √ 2 2
, we have
σs +σi

γ−(s̄−ī)
Z √
2 1 −y2 /2
2
σs +σi
p = e dy
−∞ 2π
Z +∞
1 −y2 /2
= 1 − γ−(s̄−ī) e dy
√ 2 2 2π
σs +σi
!
γ − (s̄ − ī)
= 1−Q p
σs2 + σi2

6. Consider a mobile receiver operating at a frequency of 860 MHz and moving at 100 km/hr in
a Rayleigh fading environment with angles of arrival uniformly distributed over 0 − 2π in a
horizontal plane. Sketch the Doppler spectrum if a CW signal is transmitted and indicate the
maximum frequencies in cycles/second, cycles/meter, and cycles/wavelength.
Solution:

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6.
105 m/hr
f = 860 MHz, v = 100 km/hr = = 27.78 m/s
3600 sec/hr
v 27.78
fm = f = (860 × 106 ) = 79.63 Hz
c 3 × 108
c 3 × 108
λ= = = 0.349 m
f 860 × 106
Maximum frequency in cycles/m:
79.63 cycles/sec
= 2.87 cycles/m
27.78 m/s
Maximum frequency in cycles/wavelenth:

(2.87 cycles/m)(0.349 m/wavelength) = 1 cycle/wavelength

860 MHz 79 63 Hz
: 860 MHz 860 MHz + 79 63 Hz (cycles/sec)
:

2 87
: 0 2 87
: (cycles/m)
1 0 1 (cycles/wavelength)

7. Assume someone in a car is using a receiver operating at 900 MHz. The antenna is a dipole and
is mounted vertically on top of the car. There are many paths arriving at the antenna uniformly
distributed in angles in the horizontal plane. Only consider small-scale variations.

(a) The receiver records samples of the envelope of the received signal every t seconds, where
5 ms< t <15 ms. If the car travels at 36 km/hr, what are the values for t such that the
adjacent samples are uncorrelated?

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 (b) What is the correlation coefficient between the adjacent samples if we use the same t found
in part (a) but the speed changes to 18 km/hr?

Solution:
v 36 × 103 /3600
7. (a) fm = fc = 9 × 108 · = 30 Hz. The nulls of J0 (2πfm t) are
c 3 × 108
fm t = 0.383, 0.879, 1.377, . . .

which correspond to
t = 12.8 ms, 29.3 ms, 45.9 ms, . . .
For the given range, 5 ms < t < 15 ms, we choose t = 12.8 ms.
(b) fm = 15 Hz. So 2πfm t = 2π · 15 × 0.0128 = 2π · 0.192 = 1.203 for t = 12.8 ms.
Therefore the correlation coefficient is

J02 (2πfm t) = J02 (1.203) = 0.4487

8. A mobile user is moving in an environment in which signal energy arrives uniformly distributed
in angles in the horizontal plane, and the antenna has unity gain. The following receiver is used
to measure the power received from a sinusoidal transmission with fc = 900 MHz.

BPF Power Meter

v
Let the power received at the antenna output before the BPF be P . Define W = fc . Consider
c
two BPFs having the following frequency responses for f > 0:
(
1 |f − fc | < W
• BPF1 : |H1 (f )| =
0 otherwise
(
1 fb < |f − fc | < 2W
• BPF2 : |H2 (f )| =
0 otherwise

(a) If BPF1 is used and the user moves at a speed of v, what is the power at the output of the
BPF in terms of P ?
(b) Repeat for a user speed of 2v.
(c) Now use BPF2 with the speed still 2v. Find the value of fb in terms of W such that the
received power at the output of the BPF is the same as in part (b).

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 Solution:

8. (a) When the user moves at a speed of v, the maximum Doppler frequency is W . Therefore all
of the energy will pass through BPF1 . The output power is just P .
(b) When a user moves at a speed of 2v, the maximum Doppler frequency is 2W . Only the
energy in the range 0 < |f − fc | < W will pass through BPF1 . That corresponds to the
arrival angle α, where −π < α < π, in the range of 0 < | cos α| < 1/2, or π/3 < |α| <
2π/3(see figure). Since the power is uniformly distributed in angle, we will have P/3 at the
output of the BPF1 .
(c) The maximum Doppler frequency is again 2W , but now only the energy in the range fb <
|f − fc | < 2W will pass. That corresponds to fb /2W < | cos α| < 1. Therefore 0 <
|α| < cos−1 (fb /2W ) or π − cos−1 (fb /2W ) < |α| < π(see figure). Obviously
√ we need
cos (fb /2W ) = 30 in order to get P/3 at the output of BPF2 , so fb = 3W .
−1 ◦

(b) (c)

60Æ
30Æ
Energy Passed
v v
Through BPF

9. Assume that a receiving antenna is moving at a uniform speed through a multipath propagation
medium that has a very large number of waves arriving from angles uniformly distributed in a
plane. Assume that all the arriving angles are confined to the plane and that the received signal
amplitude is Rayleigh distributed. The transmitted signal is a single frequency sinusoid at fre-
quency f.

The receiving antenna has a beam pattern G(α) as a function of angle α. α is the angle with
respect to the direction of motion. Find and Sketch the power spectrum of the received signal for
the following two cases:

(a) G(α) has a constant gain, G, for 0 ≤ α ≤ π and zero for the rest of α.
(b) G(α) has a constant gain, G, for −π/2 ≤ α ≤ π/2 and zero for the rest of α.

Solution:

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 9. we know that

p
S(f ) = p × (p(α)G(α) + p(−α)G(−α)) |f − fc | ≤ fm (9)
2 − (f − f )2
fm c

Where α = cos−1 ( ff−f

m
c
).

(a) G(α) = G for 0 ≤ α ≤ π and zero for the rest of α.

1
We assume constant power intensity per unit angle in the plane, i.e. p(α) = 2π
. Then S(f )
will be half of what was derived on page 4-57.

Gp/wm
S(f ) = q |f − fc | ≤ fm (10)
1 − ( ff−f
m
c 2
)
(b) G(α) = G for −π/2 ≤ α ≤ π/2 and zero for the rest of α.

−π/2 ≤ α ≤ π/2 will result in the frequency range fc ≤ f ≤ fc + fm

Hence we get the same spectrum derived on page 4-57 only for the frequency range fc ≤
f ≤ fc + fm .

2Gp/wm
S(f ) = q fc ≤ f ≤ fc + fm (11)
1− ( ff−f
m
c 2
)

10. Consider a wireless system with the following parameters:

• transmitted power: +20 dBm
• minimum usable received power: −100 dBm
• gain of transmitting antenna: 10 dB
• gain of receiving antenna: 0 dB
• frequency: 2 GHz
Assume that this wireless system is being used in a residential environment as described by the
data in the figure. For this problem, assume that the standard deviation of the log-normal process
with the trend removed is σ = 10 dB. Assume for this problem that there is only one base station
and one user.

(a) Let Pr (d) represent the mean received power (the solid line) in dBm at distance d, and
Pr0 (d) be the free-space received power (the dotted line) in dBm at distance d. Suppose the
reference power is Pref in dBm. Then the x-axis of the figure is Pr (d)−Pref or Pr0 (d)−Pref .
Find Pref using the dotted line and the Friis formula. Show that we can write Pr (d) =
K − 45 log d, then find the value of K for d in feet.

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 Part a
4

S(f) /(2pG/w )
m 2

0
f −f f f +f
c m c c m

Part b
8

S(f) /(2pG/w )
m 4

0
f −f f f +f
c m c c m

(b) If we ignore the small scale multipath fading, and consider a user traveling on a circle of
radius d centered at the base station. Find the value for d such that the system will work
(i.e. the received signal power is above the minimum usable level) for half of the time.
(c) Repeat (b) if we want the system to work for 90% of the time.

Solution:
c
10. (a) For f = 815 MHz, λ = = 0.368 m. In free space,
f
λ
Pr0 (d) = Pt + Gt + Gr + 20 log
4πd
For d = 500 ft (152.37 m),
0.368
Pr0 (d) = 20 + 10 + 0 + 20 log = −44.32 dBm
4π × 152.37
From the figure, the free-space received power at 500 ft relative to reference is about

Pr0 (d) − Pref = −31 dB

So Pref = Pr0(d) + 31 = −44.32 + 31 = −13.3 dBm.

Since the mean received power has a distance dependence form of 1/dn , in log form, we
will have,
Pr (d) = K − n log(d)

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 where K is some constant. From figure, we find for d =500 ft, Pr (d) − Pref = −51 dB and
for d =1000 ft, Pr (d) − Pref = −64.5 dB. So

n = (64.5 − 51)/3 = 44.84 ≈ 45

To find K, note that for d =500 ft,

Pr (d) = Pref − 51 = −13.3 − 51 = −64.3 dBm

Therefore,

K = Pr (d) + 45 log d = −64.3 + 45 log 500 = −64.3 + 121.5 ≈ 57.

Then, Pr (d) = 57 − 45 log d dBm (d in ft).

(b) Since the signal received at distance d in dBm ∼ N (Pr (d), σ), for the system to work 50%
of the time, the mean of the large scale variation should equal to the minimum usable level,
i.e.
Pr (d) = 42 − 45 log d = −100 dBm =⇒ d = 1430 ft
(c) For the system to work 90% of the time,

Pr (d) − (−100 dBm)

 
Q = 0.1
σ

Since Q(1.28) = 0.1, we have

Pr (d) = −100 + 1.28σ = −100 + 1.28 × 10 = −87.2 dBm

Substitute into Pr (d) = 42 − 45 log d, we get d = 743 ft.

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