RF Propagation

June 2001 Copyright 2001 Global Wireless Education Consortium RT-RF Propagation  1
 RT-RFP
© Copyright 2001 Global Wireless Education Consortium

All rights reserved. This module, comprising presentation slides with notes,
exercises, projects and Instructor Guide, may not be duplicated in any way
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have been used with the permission of their owners.

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 RT-RFP
 Partial support for this curriculum material
was provided by the National Science Foundation's
Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement
Program under grant DUE-9972380 and Advanced
Technological Education Program under grant
DUE‑9950039.

 GWEC EDUCATION PARTNERS: This material is

subject to the legal License Agreement signed by your
institution. Please refer to this License Agreement for
restrictions of use.
Copyright 2001 Global
RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Propagation Models

 Large-scale propagation model

 Gives power where random environmental effects have been
averaged together

 Small-scale propagation model

 Gives mean power for small distances or short times

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Radio Propagation Paths
 Depending on the frequency, radio signals will follow different
paths
 Ground Wave Below 2 MHz
 Sky Waves 2 to 30 MHz
 LOS – Line of Sight Above 30 MHz
 Ground Waves follow the curvature of the earth
 Sky Waves bounce off the ionosphere
 LOS must follow a straight line

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Frequency Bands
 VLF 3 – 30 KHz GW
 LF 30 – 300 KHz GW
 MF 300 – 3000 KHz GW in Day / SW at Night
 HF 3 – 30 MHz SW
 VHF 30 – 300 MHz LOS
 UHF 300 – 3000 MHz LOS
 SHF 3 – 30 GHz LOS
 EHF 30 – 300 GHz LOS

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Impairments to Free-
Space Propagation
 Reflection
 Scattering
 Blocking
 Absorption
 Refraction
 Diffraction
 Multipath interference

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RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Reflection

i r

t

Circuit for voltage applied

Copyright 2001to input of a receiver
Global
RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Scattering
Reflected waves
In
ci
de
nt
wa
ve

Transm itted waves

(also refracted)

Wave scattering and transmission

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RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Blocking

Blocked and reflected cellular radio waves

Copyright 2001 Global
RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Absorption
 Some substances absorb radio waves
 Trees and shrubs
 Clouds, mist and other atmospheric water and dust
 Metal screen
 Human head near a hand held

 Higher frequency radio waves are absorbed more than

lower frequency radio waves

 Absorption seldom beneficial in wireless applications

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Refraction
 Refraction is the bending of electromagnetic waves as
they pass from medium of one density into medium of
another density

 Radio waves typically bend due to changes in density of

air caused by changes in humidity, temperature or
pressure

 Dielectric constant describes how the wave will

propagate through the material

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Atmospheric Refraction

tro p o s
p h e re
o r io n
osphe
r e
re f
le c
te d
ra d
io
be
am
am
e c t r a d io b e
d ir
Earth

Direct and reflected radio beams

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Atmospheric Refraction

d i o beam
p e c te d ra
ex
a m c u rv e d b y a tm o s p h e re
ra d io b e

Earth

Radio beam curved by atmosphere

Copyright 2001 Global
RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Refraction
 Polarization of waves refracted from the ionosphere are
usually different than polarization of a direct waves
leaving transmitting antenna

 Wave refracted by troposphere maintains same

polarization

 Index of refraction of earth’s atmosphere changes with

altitude
 Causes a radio beam to be bent downward toward the earth
 Result of this effect is same as if the radius of the earth has
been flattened
Copyright 2001 Global
RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Diffraction
 A change in wave pattern caused by interference
between waves that have been reflected from a surface
or a point
 Causes regions of waves strengthening and weakening
 Results in bending of the wave
 Can occur in different situations when waves
 Pass through a narrow slit
 Pass the edge of a reflector
 Reflect off two different surfaces approximately one wavelength
apart
 Beneficial effect of radio wave diffraction is the K-factor
Copyright 2001 Global
RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Multipath Interference
 Occurs when radio waves reflected off of structures
results in multiple copies of signal traveling in reception
area
 Several of these signals are received by the receiver
 The received signals travel in different paths and take different
amounts of time to arrive
 Benefit is that radio signals can reach hard-to-reach
areas
 Disadvantages include:
 Delay spread
 Rayleigh fading
 Doppler shift

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Small-Scale Fading
Propagation Model
 Fading is the rapid fluctuation of the amplitude of a
radio signal in a short time over a short distance

 Fading is caused by destructive interference between 2

or more versions of the original signal transmitted
 The multiple signals interfere with each other

 Waves can combine constructively or destructively

 Signal peaks and valleys are out of phase with each

other due to different transmission path lengths

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Causes of Fading
 Primary causes of fading include physical factors
 Multipath propagation
 Speed of mobile station
 Speed of reflecting objects

 Doppler shift is involved in fading

 Multiple paths caused by reflection may have positive or negative effect
 Positive effect when frequency is shifted higher and negative effect
when frequency is shifted lower
 If objects reflecting radio waves are moving more rapidly than mobile
station, Doppler shift can be dominant cause of fading
 If objects reflecting radio waves are moving more slowly than the the
mobile station, Doppler shift can be ignored

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Effects of Fading
 Effects of fading are noticed by the listener
 Rapid change in volume
 Random frequency modulation
 Echoes
 Distortion
 Dropped call

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RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Types of Fading
 Flat fading

 Frequency selective fading

 Fast fading (Rayleigh fading)

 Slow fading

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Industry Contributors
The following companies provided materials and
resource support for this module:
 Ericsson (http://www.ericsson.com)
 Lucent Technologies (http://www.lucent.com)
 Verizon Wireless (formerly AirTouch Cellular)
(http://www.verizonwireless.com)
 RF Globalnet (http://www.rfglobalnet.com)
 Telcordia Technologies, Inc (http://www.telcordia.com)
 U.S. Navy
 Verizon (http://www.verizon.com)

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Individual Contributors
The following individuals and their organization or
institution provided materials, resources, and development
input for this module:
 Dr. Jamil Ahmed
 British Columbia Institute of Technology
 http://bcit.ca
Mr. John Baldwin
 South Central Technical College
 http://means.net
Dr. Derrek Dunn
 North Carolina A&T State University
 http://ncat.edu

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education
 Individual Contributors,
cont.
 Dr. Cynthia Furse
 Utah State University
 http://www.helios.ece.usu.edu/
 Ms. Annette Muga
 Ericsson
 http://www.ericsson.com/
 Dr. David Voltmer
 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
 http://www.rose-hulman.edu/
 Modified by Dr. Larry Hash
 State University of NY Institute of Technology (http://sunyit.edu)

Copyright 2001 Global

RT-RF Propagation 
June 2001 Wireless Education