Introduction to Radiowave

Propagation
Dr Costas Constantinou
School of Electronic, Electrical & Computer
Engineering
University of Birmingham
W: www.eee.bham.ac.uk/ConstantinouCC/
E: c.constantinou@bham.ac.uk
 Introduction
For an overview, see Chapters 1 4 of L.W.
Barclay (Ed.), Propagation of Radiowaves,
2nd Ed., London: The IEE, 2003
The main textbook supporting these
lectures is: R.E. Collin, Antennas and
Radiowave Propagation, New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1985
 Introduction (cont.)
Simple free-space propagation occurs only
rarely
For most radio links we need to study the
influence of the presence of the earth,
buildings, vegetation, the atmosphere,
hydrometeors and the ionosphere
In this lectures we will concentrate on
simple terrestrial propagation models only
 Radio Spectrum
Symb Frequency Wavelengt Comments
ol range h,
ELF < 300 Hz > 1000 km Earth-ionosphere waveguide
ULF 300 Hz 3 1000 100 propagation
kHz km
VLF 3 kHz 30 100 10
kHz km
LF 30 300 kHz 10 1 km Ground wave propagation
MF 300 kHz 3 1 km 100
MHz m
HF 3 30 MHz 100 10 m Ionospheric sky-wave
propagation
VHF 30 300 MHz 10 1 m Space waves, scattering by
objects similarly sized to, or
UHF 300 MHz 3 f 100
c 1 m ; c bigger 1
8 msthan,
3 10 a free-space
GHz mm
wavelength, increasingly
SHF 3 30 GHz 100 10 affected by tropospheric
 Electromagnetic waves
Spherical waves

Wm
Intensity (time-average)2
S 2 E H
1

Conservation of energy; the inverse

square law
 Electromagnetic waves
Conservation of energy; the inverse
square law
Energy cannot flow perpendicularly to, but

r2 along
flows A1 light
r12 rays
2 PA1 r1 A1 r2 A2 PA2
r1 A2 r2
1 1
r 2 E r
r r
Ptransmitted in an angular sector of l steradians
r
lr2
Ptransmitted
r
4 r 2
 Free-space propagation
Tx Rx

Transmitted power
Ptx R

EIPR (equivalent isotropically radiatedGpower)

tx Ptx

Power density at receiver

Gtx Ptx
S rx
4 R 2
Received power
Gtx Ptx rx 2
Prx Ae ; Aerx Grx
4 R 2
4
Friis power transmission formula
2
Prx
Gtx Grx
Ptx 4 R
 Free-space propagation
(cont.)
Taking logarithms gives
4 R
10 log10 Prx 10 log10 Ptx 10 log10 Gtx 10 log10 Grx 20 log10

Prx dBW Ptx dBW Gtx dBi Grx dBi L0 dB
whereL0 is the free-space path loss, measured in
decibels
4 R
L0 20 log10 dB

L0 dB 32.4 20 log10 f MHz 20 log10 d km

Maths reminder

log a b c log a b,
c
log a b
log c b
log c a
, log a b c log a b log a c
 Basic calculations
Example: Two vertical dipoles, each with gain 2dBi,
separated in free space by 100m, the transmitting one
radiating a power of 10mW at 2.4GHz
L0 dB 32.4 20 log10 2400 20 log10 0.1 80.0
P
This
dBW 10 log 102
rx corresponds10to 0.4nW
10(or
log10 2 10 log10 2 strength
an electric field
80.0 94
of
.0
0.12mVm-1)
The important quantity though is the signal to noise ratio
at the receiver. In most instances antenna noise is
dominated by electronic equipment thermal noise, given
by where is Boltzmans constant, B is
N k BTB
the receiver bandwidth 23 and
T is the room temperature in
Kelvin Bk 1 . 38 10 JK 1
 Basic calculations (cont.)
The noise power output by a receiver with a Noise
Figure F = 10dB, and bandwidth B = 200kHz at
room temperature (T = 300K) is calculated as
follows
N dBW 10 log10 k BTB 10 log10 F

N dBW 10 log10 1.38 10 23 300 200 103 10 log10 10
N 140.8 dBW 110 .8 dBm

Thus the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is given by

SNR dB P dBW N dBW 94.0 140.8
SNR 46.8 dB
Basic calculations (cont.)
 Propagation over a flat
earth
The two ray model (homogeneous ground)
z Tx
r1 Rx
ht
r2
hr air, 0, 0 x

P ground, r, 0,

d
Valid in the VHF, band and above (i.e. f 30MHz where
ground/surface wave effects are negligible)
Valid for flat ground (i.e. r.m.s. roughness z < , typically f
30GHz)
Valid for short ranges where the earths curvature is negligible
(i.e. d < 1030 km, depending on atmospheric conditions)
 Propagation over flat earth
The path difference between the direct and ground-
reflectedrpaths
r2 isr1 and this corresponds to a phase
k r2 r1
difference
The total electric field at the receiver is given by

E r , E1 r , E 2 r ,
exp j t r1 c
E r , 60 Prad e gT , e gT ,
r1
exp j t r2 c
60
The angles Prad are the elevation
and e and
gT azimuth gT , .
, e angles
r2
of the direct and ground reflected paths measured from
the boresight of the transmitting antenna radiation pattern
 Reflection of plane waves
Reflection coefficient is a tensor
r i
E .E
The reflection coefficient can be
resolved into two canonical
polarisations, TE and TM and has
a magnitude
exp
both j and phase
cos r j 0 sin 2
TE
cos r j 0 sin 2
r j 0 cos r j 0 sin 2

TM ||

r j 0 cos r j 0 sin 2 Plane of

incidence
 Reflection of plane waves
Typical reflection
coefficients for
ground as a
function of the
grazing angle
(complement of
the angle of
Pseudo-Brewster angle incidence). In
this instance,
r 15, 10 2 Sm 1

Mobihoc '03 Radio Channel

15
Modelling Tutorial
 Propagation over flat earth
This expression can be simplified considerably for
vertical and horizontal polarisations for large
ranges d >> ht, hr, 2 , 2 2kht hr
k r2 r1 k d ht hr d ht hr
2 2
d
1 1 1 1 1 1

r1 d ht hr d r2 d ht hr d
2 2 2 2

e z Gtx cos for v. polarisation

e gT , e gT ,
e y Gtx for h. polarisation
e z TM Gtx cos for v. pol.
. e gT , e gT ,
e y TE Gtx for h. pol.

TM v TE h 1
 Propagation over flat earth
Ev ,h E0 1 v ,h exp j
Prx Prx 0 1 exp j 4 Prx 0 sin 2 2
2

2ht hr
Prx 4 Prx 0 sin
2

d
There are two sets of ranges to consider,
separated by a breakpoint
4ht hr
d d b & sin
2 2 2 2
2
d d b & 4sin 2
2 2 2
 Propagation over flat earth
Thus there are two simple propagation path loss laws
L dB L0 3.0 l for d d c
where l is a rapidly varying (fading) term over
distances of the scale of a wavelength, and
L dB L0 20 log10 for d d c
This simplifies to
4d 4ht hr
L dB 20 log10 20 log10
d
L dB 40 log10 d 20 log10 ht 20 log10 hr
The total path loss (free space loss + excess path loss)
is independent of frequency and shows that height
increases the received signal power (antenna height
gain) and that the received power falls as d-4 not d-2
Propagation over flat earth
Typical ground
1/d4 power law regime (d > dc)
(earth), with
r = 15
= 0.005Sm-1
ht = 20m and
hr = 2m

1/d2 power law regime (d < dc) deep fade

 Propagation over flat earth
2ht hr
When ht = 0 or hr = 0 Prx 4 Prx 0 sin 0
2

This implies that no communication is possible for

ground based antennas (not quite true in
practice)

Furthermore, for perfectly conductingTM v 1ground and

vertical polarisation at grazing incidence,
2 2ht hr
Prx 4 Prx 0 cos
d
 Propagation over flat earth
Problem: A boat has an elevated antenna
mounted on a mast at height ht above a highly
conducting perfectly flat sea. If the radiation
pattern of the antenna approximates e cos that of a
vertically polarised current element, i.e. ,
determine the in-situ radiation pattern of the
antenna and in particular the radiation pattern
nulls as a function of the elevation angle above
2ht
f e cos cos
the horizon. tan

Answer: 2n 1
, n 0,1,2,
4 ht
Path clearance on LOS paths

Tx
r01
r02
r0 Rx
r11 r1 hc
r22
ht
hr
h

P
d1 d2
d
Assume that in the worst case scenario we get the strongest
possible scattering from the sub-path obstacle: specular
reflection at grazing incidence
Path clearance on LOS paths
The electrical path difference between the direct
and scattered rays from the top of the obstacle is,
k k r1 r0 k r11 r12 r01 r02
k
r012 hc2 r01 r022 hc2 r02
r01 , r02 hc
Since typically
hc2 hc2
k k r01 r01 r02 r02
2r01 2r02
khc2 1 1 khc2 1 1

2 r01 r02 2 d1 d 2
khc2 d

2d1d 2
Path clearance on LOS paths
Additionally, comparing similar parallelograms gives,
hr d1 ht d 2
hc h cos
d
Under the assumptions made, the direct and scattered
waves have similar magnitudes and differ in phase by
due to the grazing incidence reflection
If the electrical path difference is this corresponds to
a first Fresnel zone path clearance

d1d 2
h
Problem: Verify that the
c breakpoint distance in the two
d
ray model corresponds to the point at which the first
Fresnel zone touches the ground
 Site shielding
We consider the two-dimensional problem of site
shielding by an obstacle in the line-of-sight path for
simplicity (rigorous diffraction theory is beyond the
scope of these introductory lectures)
We invoke the Huygens-Fresnel principle to describe
wave propagation:
Every point on a primary wavefront serves as the source of
spherical secondary wavelets such that the primary wavefront
at some later time is the envelope of these wavelets.
Moreover, the wavelets advance with a speed andfrequency
equal to that of the primary wave at each point in space.
Huygens's principle was slightly modified by Fresnel to explain
why no back wave was formed, and Kirchhoff demonstrated
that the principle could be derived from the wave equation
Site shielding
 Site shielding
P
du r = d2 +
R
d1 u
O d2
u0 (u0 > 0 path obstraction)
T d1
d1 (u0 < 0 path clearance)

perfectly
absorbing
knife-edge
observation
P plane
 Site sheilding
The Kirchhoff integral describing the summing of
secondary wavefronts in the Huygens-Fresnel
principle yields the field at the receiver
1 u
exp jkr
E R k1 du
0 u
f r

where k1 describes the transmitter power,

polarisation and radiation pattern, f(r) describes
the amplitude spreading factor for the secondary
waves (2D cylindrical wave f(r) = r1/2, 3D spherical
wave f(r) = r) and u1 is a large positive value of u to
describe a distant upper bound on the wavefront
 Site shielding
Stationary phase arguments (since the exponent
is oscillatory, especially for high frequencies)
show that only the fields in the vicinity of the
point O contribute significantly to the field at R
If point O is obstructed by the knife-edge, then
only the fields in the vicinity of the tip of the
knife-edge contribute significantly to the field at R
Using the cosine rule on the triangle TPR, gives
r 2 PR TP TR 2 TP TR cos
2 2 2

u
d2 d1 d 2 d1 2 d1 d 2 d1 cos
2 2 2

d1
 Site shielding
If we assume that d1, d2 >> , u (stationary phase and
far-field approximations), then u/d1, << 1 and 2 <<
u 2

2 2 2
2

d 2 2d 2 ; 2d1 d 2 2d1d 2 2 d 1 d1d 2 1 2
2

2d1

d1 d 2
; u 2

2d1d 2
Thus, using stationary phase arguments, we may
only keep the fast varying exponential term inside
the Kirchhoff integral and evaluate the slowly
varying f(r) term at the stationary phase point O, to
give,
k1 exp jkd 2 u1
E R ; exp jk u du
f d2 u0
 Site shielding
d1 d 2 2
Sincek u ; u , we make the
substitution d1d 2
2 d1 d 2 2 d
u @k2u k & du
d1d 2 2 k2

which simplifies the integral to the form,

k1 exp jkd 2
E R ;
k2 f d 2 0
exp j 2
2 d

where we have used the stationary phase argument

to make the upper limit
Using the definition of x the complex Fresnel integral,
F x exp j 2 2 d
0
 Site shielding
k1 exp jkd 2
k3 @
k2 f d 2
E R ; k3 F F 0
1 j
E R ; k3 F 0
2
To determine k3 we let and use F()=
F() and the fact that in this case we have free-
space propagation (i.e. E(R) = E0(R)) , to get,
E0 R ; k3 1 j
E0 R E0 R
k3 1 j
1 j 2
 Site shielding
E0 R
Therefore,E R ; 1 j exp j 2 2 d
2 0

2 d1 d 2
0 u0
where,
d1d 2

The path-gain factor, F, is given by,

E R 1

F@
E0 R

2
exp j 2
2 d
0

Useful engineering approximations:

20 log10 F ; 13 20 log10 0 0 2.4
20 log10 F ; 6.02 9.11 0 1.27v02 0 0 2.4
20 log10 F ; 6.02 9.0 0 1.65v02 0.8 0 0
Site shielding
 Multipath propagation
Mobile radio channels are predominantly in the
VHF and UHF bands
VHF band (30 MHz f 300 MHz, or 1 m 10 m)
UHF band (300 MHz f 3 GHz, or 10 cm 1 m)
In an outdoor environment electromagnetic
signals can travel from the transmitter to the
receiver along many paths
Reflection
Diffraction
Transmission
Scattering
 Multipath propagation
Narrowband
signal
(continuous
wave CW)
Area mean or path Fast or multipath
loss envelope
(deterministic or fading (statistical)
empirical)

Local mean, or shadowing, or slow

fading (deterministic or statistical)
 Multipath propagation
The total signal consists
of many components
Each component
corresponds to a signal
which has a variable
amplitude and phase
The power received varies
rapidly as the component
phasors add with rapidly
changing phases

Averaging the phase angles results in the

local mean signal over areas of the order of
102
Averaging the length (i.e. power) over many
locations/obstructions results in the area
mean
The signals at the receiver can be
expressed in terms of delay, and
 Area mean models
We will only cover the Hata-Okumura
model, which derives from extensive
measurements made by Okumura in 1968
in and around Tokyo between 200 MHz and
2 GHz
The measurements were approximated in
a set of simple median path loss formulae
by Hata
The model has been standardised by the
ITU as recommendation ITU-R P.529-2
 Area mean models
The model applies to three clutter and terrain
categories
Urban area: built-up city or large town with large
buildings and houses with two or more storeys, or
larger villages with closely built houses and tall,
thickly grown trees
Suburban area: village or highway scattered with
trees and houses, some obstacles being near the
mobile, but not very congested
Open area: open space, no tall trees or buildings in
path, plot of land cleared for 300 400 m ahead,
e.g. farmland, rice fields, open fields
 Area mean models
urban areas : L dB A B log R E
suburban areas : L dB A B log R C
open areas : L dB A B log R D
where
A 69.55 26.16 log f c 13.82 log hb
B 44.9 6.55 log hb
C 2 log f c 28 5.4
2

D 4.78 log f c 18.33 log f c 40.94

2

E 3.2 log11.75hm 4.97 for large cities, f c 300MHz

2

E 8.29 log1.54hm 1.1

2
for large cities, f c 300MHz
E 1.1 log f c 0.7 hm 1.56 log f c 0.8 for medium to small cities
 Area mean models
The Hata-Okumura model is only valid for:
Carrier frequencies: 150 MHz fc 1500 MHz
Base station/transmitter heights: 30 m hb 200
m
Mobile station/receiver heights: 1 m hm 10 m
Communication range: R > 1 km
A large city is defined as having an average
building height in excess of 15 m
 Local mean model
The departure of the local mean power from the area
mean prediction, or equivalently the deviation of the area
mean model is described by a log-normal distribution
In the same manner that the theorem of large numbers
states that the probability density function of the sum of
many random processes obeys a normal distribution, the
product of a large number of random processes obeys a
log-normal distribution
Here the product characterises the many cascaded
interactions of electromagnetic waves in reaching the
receiver
The theoretical basis for this model is questionable over
short-ranges, but it is the best available that fits
observations
 Local mean model
Working in logarithmic units (decibels, dB), the total path
loss is given by
PL d L d X
where X is a random variable obeying a lognormal
distribution with standard deviation (again measured in
dB)
p X
1

exp X 2 2 dB
2

dB 2
If x is measured in linear units (e.g. Volts)

1 ln x ln mx
p x exp
dB x 2 2 dB
2

where mx is the mean value of the signal given by the area

mean model
 Local mean model
Cumulative probability density function
LT L d

cdf PL LThreshold
1

exp X 2 2 dB
2
dX
dB 2
1 LT L d
1 erfc
2 2
This can be used to calculate the probability that the
signal-to-noise ratio will never be lower than a desired
threshold value. This is called an outage calculation
Typical values of dB = 10 dB are encountered in urban
outdoor environments, with a de-correlation distance
between 20 80 m with a median value of 40 m
 Fast fading models
Im
Constructive and destructive
interference
In spatial domain
In frequency domain Re
In time domain (scatterers, tx and P
rx in relative motion)
Azimuth dependent Doppler shifts
Each multipath component
travels corresponds to a different
path length.
Plot of power carried by each
component against delay is called
the power delay profile (PDP )of
the channel.
2nd central moment of PDP is
called the delay spread
 Fast fading models
The relation of the radio system channel bandwidth
Bch to the delay spread is very important
Narrowband channel (flat fading, negligible inter-
Bch antennas
symbol interference (ISI), diversity
1
useful)
Wideband channel (frequency selective fading, need
equalisation (RAKE receiver) or spread spectrum
1 etc.) to avoid/limit ISI)
Bch OFDM,
techniques (W-CDMA,
Fast fading refers to very rapid variations in signal
strength (20 to in excess of 50 dB in magnitude)
typically in an analogue narrowband channel
Dominant LOS component Rician fading
NLOS components of similar magnitude Rayleigh fading
 Fast fading models
Working in logarithmic units (decibels, dB), the
total path loss is given by
PL d L d X 20 log10 Y
where Y is random variable which describes the
fast fading and it obeys the distribution
Y Y2
2 exp 2 , Y 0
p Y 2
0, Y 0

for Rayleigh fading, where the mean value of Y is
Y 2 1 0.80
 Fast fading models
For Rician fading
Y Y 2 y s2 Yys
2 exp I 0 2 , Y 0
p Y 2
2

0, Y 0

where ys is the amplitude of the dominant (LOS)
componenty s2with
2 power K Rice . The 2
y s2 2ratio
is called the Rician K-factor. The mean value of Y is

Y 2 1 K I 0 K 2 K I1 K 2 exp K 2
The Rician K-factor can vary considerably across
small areas in indoor environments
 Fading models
Similar but much more complicated outage
calculations
E.g. Rayleigh and log-normal distributions combine to
give a Suzuki distribution
The spatial distribution of fades is such that the
length of a fade depends on the number of dB
below the local
Fademean signal
depth (dB) we are concerned
Average fade length ()
with 0 0.479
-10 0.108
-20 0.033
-30 0.010
 Tropospheric propagation
Over long-distances, more than a few tens of
km, and heights of up to 10 km above the
earths surface, clear air effects in the
troposphere become non-negligible
The dielectric constant of the air at the earths
surface of (approx.) 1.0003 falls to 1.0000 at
great heights where the density of the air tends
to zero
A consequence of Snells law of refraction is
that radiowaves follow curved, rather than
straight-line trajectories
 Tropospheric propagation
B
The variation of the ray
A B n + dn
curvature with refractive

index is derived: d dh
A n
AA: wavefront at time t
BB: wavefront at time t + dt
AB and AB: rays normal to
the wavefronts
: radius of curvature of AB
c dt
AB d v dt d
n
c dt
AB d d v dv dt
n dn O
d c c

dt n n dn d
 Tropospheric propagation
n n nd dn dnd
Retaining only terms which are correct to first order
in small quantities,
dn nd
1 1 dn

n d
But this is the curvature, C, of the ray AB, by
definition. Furthermore,
dh d cos
1 1 dn
C@ cos
n dh
For rays propagating along the earths surface is
very small and we may take cos = 1. Moreover, n1 1.
 Tropospheric propagation
dn
C;
dh
If n = constant, dn/dh = 0 C = 0 and the ray has zero
curvature, i.e. the ray path is a straight line
A ray propagating horizontally above the earth
must have a curvature C = (earths radius)1 = a1 in
order to remain parallel with the earths surface.
But its actual curvature is given by C and not C.
The difference between the two curvatures gives
the curvature of an equivalent earth for which
dn/dh = 0 and which has an effective radius ae,
1 1 dn 1
@
ae a dh ka
 Tropospheric propagation
k is known as the k-factor for the earth
Typically, dn/dh 0.039106 m1 1/(25,600 km)
Therefore,1 1 1 1

ae 6, 400 km 25, 600 km k 6, 400 km
The k-factor of the earth is k = 4/3
The effective radius of the earth is ae = 4a/3
These values are used in the standard earth
model which explains why the radio horizon is
bigger than the radio horizon
 Tropospheric propagation
Problem: Find the radio horizon of an elevated
antenna at a height ht above the earth

R 2ae ht
Answer: