Wireless Communication: Introduction and Physical

Modeling of Wireless Channels

B. Sainath
sainath.bitragunta@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani

March 3, 2019

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 1 / 21

Outline

1 Introduction

2 Wireless channels: Physical Modeling

3 Input/Output Model of Wireless Channel

4 References

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 2 / 21

Introduction
Wireless systems operate via transmission through space (unguided
medium)
Wireless systems:

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 3 / 21

Introduction
Wireless systems operate via transmission through space (unguided
medium)
Wireless systems: fixed or mobile
Many kinds of wireless systems & networks

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 3 / 21

Introduction
Wireless systems operate via transmission through space (unguided
medium)
Wireless systems: fixed or mobile
Many kinds of wireless systems & networks
Broadcast systems:

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 3 / 21

Introduction
Wireless systems operate via transmission through space (unguided
medium)
Wireless systems: fixed or mobile
Many kinds of wireless systems & networks
Broadcast systems: AM, FM, TV
Wireless LANs: e.g., Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 family), Bluetooth, Ultra wideband
Mobile cellular commun. networks: f − bands around 900 MHz, 1900 MHz,
5.8 GHz
Compute corresponding wavelengths

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 3 / 21

Introduction
Wireless systems operate via transmission through space (unguided
medium)
Wireless systems: fixed or mobile
Many kinds of wireless systems & networks
Broadcast systems: AM, FM, TV
Wireless LANs: e.g., Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 family), Bluetooth, Ultra wideband
Mobile cellular commun. networks: f − bands around 900 MHz, 1900 MHz,
5.8 GHz
Compute corresponding wavelengths (lies between 0.05 m to 0.3 m)
Ad hoc networks; E.g., MANET, VANET (No infrastructure!)

Figure: i). (Left) Hexagonal cells and base stations-simplified view. ii). (right)
Realistic scenario (Source: Gallager’s book.).

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 3 / 21

Cellular network vs. Ad hoc network

Figure: Mobile Ad hoc network (MANET). Source: Google

Exercise
Figure out the key differences
Give examples, standards

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 4 / 21

Wireless Channel: Physical Modeling

Figure: Wireless multipath channel. Fading: small scale & large scale

EM-wave based ⇒ Maxwell equations seems helpful

Tough to solve Maxwell equations to determine EM field at receiver (Rx)
Need of accurate location information of Rx & obstructions
Even more difficult when Rx is moving
Important questions
Placement of base stations
Range of power levels required on uplinks & downlinks
Types of efficient modulation techniques, detection & estimation techniques
Stochastic models for wireless channels to address fading phenomena
Before probabilistic modeling, we explore characteristics of the wireless
channel
B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 5 / 21
Wireless Channel: Physical Modeling

Figure: Wireless multipath channel. Fading: small scale & large scale

Scenarios of interest (Assume that cellular Rxs are in far field)

Free space, fixed Tx and Rx antennas
Free space, moving Rx antenna
Reflecting wall, fixed antenna
Reflecting wall, moving antenna
Two-ray ground-reflection model

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 6 / 21

Free space, fixed Tx and Rx antennas

Figure: Spherical coordinate system. Source: Wiki

Notation
cos(2πft) denotes transmitted sinusoid
u(r , θ, φ) represents point in space
r is the distance between Tx antenna & receive antenna
α(θ, ψ, f ) is the effective radiation pattern of Tx and Rx antennas
R(.) denotes real part
I(.) denotes imaginary part
c = 3 × 108 denotes speed of light

Q: Electric far field1 E(f , t, u) at time t

1 the field sufficiently far away from the antenna

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 7 / 21
Free space, fixed Tx and Rx antennas

Figure: Spherical coordinate system. Source: Wiki

Notation
cos(2πft) denotes transmitted sinusoid
u(r , θ, φ) represents point in space
r is the distance between Tx antenna & receive antenna
α(θ, ψ, f ) is the effective radiation pattern of Tx and Rx antennas
R(.) denotes real part
I(.) denotes imaginary part
c = 3 × 108 denotes speed of light

Q: Electric far field1 E(f , t, u) at time t

r


α(θ, ψ, f ) cos(2πf t − c )
E(f , t, u) =
r
1 the field sufficiently far away from the antenna
B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 7 / 21
Free space, fixed Tx and Rx antennas

For a given u, E(f , t, u) can be expressed as

E(f , t, u) = R{H(f )ej2πft }

Q: Determine H(f ) and h(τ ) (in class)

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 8 / 21

Free space, fixed Tx and Rx antennas

For a given u, E(f , t, u) can be expressed as

E(f , t, u) = R{H(f )ej2πft }

Q: Determine H(f ) and h(τ ) (in class)

r
α(θ, ψ, f )e−j2πf c α(θ, ψ, f )  r
H(f ) = , h(τ ) = δ τ−
r r c
H(f ) is the system function for linear time-invariant (LTI) channel
h(τ ) the impulse response

Linearity is a good assumption for wireless channels

Note: Time invariance does not hold when antennas and/or obstructions are in relative
motion

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 8 / 21

Free space, moving Rx antenna

Fixed Tx antenna, Rx antenna moving away with speed v

At t = 0, Rx at r0

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 9 / 21

Free space, moving Rx antenna

Fixed Tx antenna, Rx antenna moving away with speed v

At t = 0, Rx at r0
At t, Rx at r (t) = r0 + vt
Q: Determine E(f , t, (r (t), θ, ψ))

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 9 / 21

Free space, moving Rx antenna

Fixed Tx antenna, Rx antenna moving away with speed v

At t = 0, Rx at r0
At t, Rx at r (t) = r0 + vt
Q: Determine E(f , t, (r (t), θ, ψ))
r0 vt


α(θ, ψ, f ) cos(2πf t − c − c )
E(f , t, (r (t), θ, ψ)) =
r0 + vt
Remarks:
v


Sinusoid at frequency f has been converted to a sinusoid of frequency f 1 − c
Doppler shift of − fcv due to the motion of the observation point
Channel cannot be presented as LTI - linear but NOT invariant (Verify)
Numerical Example: f = fc = 2 GHz, v = 10 m/s, compute fD

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 9 / 21

Free space, moving Rx antenna

Fixed Tx antenna, Rx antenna moving away with speed v

At t = 0, Rx at r0
At t, Rx at r (t) = r0 + vt
Q: Determine E(f , t, (r (t), θ, ψ))
r0 vt


α(θ, ψ, f ) cos(2πf t − c − c )
E(f , t, (r (t), θ, ψ)) =
r0 + vt
Remarks:
v


Sinusoid at frequency f has been converted to a sinusoid of frequency f 1 − c
Doppler shift of − fcv due to the motion of the observation point
Channel cannot be presented as LTI - linear but NOT invariant (Verify)
Numerical Example: f = fc = 2 GHz, v = 10 m/s, compute fD
fD ≈ 66.6 Hz

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 9 / 21

Reflecting wall, fixed antenna

Figure: Illustration of direct path and reflected path. Source: Tse & Viswanath book

Ray tracing approximation

Assumptions
Single perfectly reflecting large fixed wall
Presence of Rx antenna does not appreciably affect the plane wave
impinging on the wall
Q: Determine electric field of received signal Er (f , t)

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 10 / 21

Reflecting wall, fixed antenna

Electric field of received signal

r 2d−r



α(f ) cos(2πf t − c ) α(f ) cos(2πf t − c )
Er (f , t) ≈ −
r 2d − r
Exercise
Determine the system function H(f ) and |H(f )|2
Determine the impulse response h(τ ) & sketch it
Comment on the system
Remarks
Received signal is the superposition of same frequency waves
Phase difference b/n the waves

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 11 / 21

Reflecting wall, fixed antenna

Electric field of received signal

r 2d−r



α(f ) cos(2πf t − c ) α(f ) cos(2πf t − c )
Er (f , t) ≈ −
r 2d − r
Exercise
Determine the system function H(f ) and |H(f )|2
Determine the impulse response h(τ ) & sketch it
Comment on the system
Remarks
Received signal is the superposition of same frequency waves
Phase difference b/n the waves
4πf
∆θ = (d − r ) + π
c
∆θ = k × 2π, k ∈ Z ⇒ constructive interference ⇒ strong signal
∆θ = (2k + 1)π, k ∈ Z ⇒ destructive interference ⇒ weak signal

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 11 / 21

Delay spread, Coherence bandwidth

Delay spread of the channel

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 12 / 21

Delay spread, Coherence bandwidth

Delay spread of the channel

Difference between propagation delays along the two signal paths

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 12 / 21

Delay spread, Coherence bandwidth

Delay spread of the channel

Difference between propagation delays along the two signal paths

2d − r r 2(d − r )
Td = − =
c c c
Coherence bandwidth
Let ∆f denote frequency change
If ∆f << T1 ⇐ coherence bandwidth
d
Constructive & destructive interference pattern remains unchanged

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 12 / 21

Reflecting wall, moving antenna

Figure: Moving Rx antenna towards reflecting wall: Illustration of direct path and
reflected path. Source: Tse & Viswanath book

Rx antenna moves at velocity v

Multipath fading
Strength of the received signal increases and decreases due to constructive
& destructive interference

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 13 / 21

Reflecting wall, moving antenna

Suppose the receive antenna is at location r0 at time 0

At time t, r = r0 + vt
Electric field of received signal (verify)
 
r0 −2d
α(f ) cos 2πf 1 + cv t +


v r0



α(f ) cos 2πf 1 − c t− c c
Er (f , t) ≈ −
r (t) 2d − r (t)

Let D1 = − fcv denote Doppler shift in direct wave

Let D2 = + fcv denote Doppler shift in reflected wave
Doppler spread: Difference between two Doppler shifts

2f v
Ds , |D2 − D1 | =
c
Numerical example: Suppose v = 90 kmph, f = 900 MHz. Compute
Doppler spread

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 14 / 21

Reflecting wall, moving antenna

Suppose the receive antenna is at location r0 at time 0

At time t, r = r0 + vt
Electric field of received signal (verify)
 
r0 −2d
α(f ) cos 2πf 1 + cv t +


v r0



α(f ) cos 2πf 1 − c t− c c
Er (f , t) ≈ −
r (t) 2d − r (t)

Let D1 = − fcv denote Doppler shift in direct wave

Let D2 = + fcv denote Doppler shift in reflected wave
Doppler spread: Difference between two Doppler shifts

2f v
Ds , |D2 − D1 | =
c
Numerical example: Suppose v = 90 kmph, f = 900 MHz. Compute
Doppler spread (Ans. 150 Hz )

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 14 / 21

Reflecting wall, moving antenna

When the Rx antenna is much closer to the wall than to the transmit
antenna, show that
  
α(f ) sin 2πf cv t + r0 −d sin 2πf t−d



c c
Er (f , t) ≈
r (t)

Coherence time Tc :
Reciprocal of Doppler spread
Measure of how fast the channel varies with time
Q. Compute approximate Tc of the previous example

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 15 / 21

Reflecting wall, moving antenna

When the Rx antenna is much closer to the wall than to the transmit
antenna, show that
  
α(f ) sin 2πf cv t + r0 −d sin 2πf t−d



c c
Er (f , t) ≈
r (t)

Coherence time Tc :
Reciprocal of Doppler spread
Measure of how fast the channel varies with time
Q. Compute approximate Tc of the previous example (Ans. 6.67 millisecond)

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 15 / 21

Two-ray ground-reflection model

Figure: Reflection from ground: Illustration of direct path and reflected path. Source:
Tse & Viswanath book

Exercise: Prove analytically that electric wave at the receiver is

attenuated as r12 , and the received power decreases as r14 . (Exercise 2.5
2
in Tse & Viswanath book) (Hint: Determine h(τ ), H(f ), and |H(f )| )
Decay can be even faster due to shadowing and scattering effects
Reading exercise: Section 2.1.7 of Tse & Viswanath book

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 16 / 21

Input/Output Model of Wireless Channel

Knowing how to determine the amplitude of the reflected field from each
type of reflector
helpful in determining the coverage and placement of BS
Our focus is on design aspects of Tx & Rx
leads to modeling the input/output behavior of a channel
Physical models
wireless channels can be modeled as LTV systems
X
y (t) = aj (t)x(t − τj (t))
j

aj (t) denotes gain of path j

τj (t) denotes delay of path j
Impulse response h(t, τ ): response at time t to an impulse at time t − τ
Q. What is the impulse response h(t, τ )?

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 17 / 21

Physical Model of Wireless Channel

Impulse response

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Physical Model of Wireless Channel

Impulse response X
h(t, τ ) = aj (t)δ(τ − τj (t))
j

when the channel is time-invariant

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 18 / 21

Physical Model of Wireless Channel

Impulse response X
h(t, τ ) = aj (t)δ(τ − τj (t))
j

when the channel is time-invariant

X
h(τ ) = aj δ(τ − τj )
j

Figure: Input/output LTV model. Source: Tse & Viswanath book

For LTI, replace h(t, τ ) by h(τ )

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 18 / 21

Frequency Domain

W W
Communication takes place at [fc − 2 , fc + 2 ]
Processing takes place at baseband [− W2 , W
2 ]

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 19 / 21

Physical Model: Discrete-time (DT)
Sampling theorem approach
X
xb (t) = x[n]sinc(Wt − n)
n

Figure: Input/output LTV model. Source: Tse & Viswanath book

DT baseband equivalent model (Verify)

X
yb [m] = h`b [m]xb [m − `]
`
h` [m] denotes `th (complex) channel filter tap at time m
B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 20 / 21
References

Fundamentals of wireless communication by Tse & Viswanath

Principles of digital communication by Gallager
David Tse’s Taiwan course on wireless
Wireless communications by Andrea Goldsmith

B. Sainath (BITS, PILANI) Advanced Digital Communication March 3, 2019 21 / 21