Types of Small Scale Fading

Prakasam P
School of Electronics Engineering
Vellore Institute of Technology
Vellore
 Types of Small Scale Fading
 Depending on the relation between the signal parameters
(such as bandwidth, symbol period, etc.) and the channel
parameters (such as rms delay spread and Doppler spread),
different transmitted signals will undergo different types of
fading.
 The time dispersion and frequency dispersion mechanisms in
a mobile radio channel lead to four possible distinct effects
depending on
◦ the nature of the transmitted signal,
◦ the channel, and
◦ the velocity.
 While multipath delay spread leads to time dispersion and
frequency selective fading,
 Doppler spread leads to frequency dispersion and time
selective fading.
◦ The two propagation mechanisms are independent of one
another.
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 Classification

𝐵𝑠 ≪ 𝐵𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑠 ≫ 𝜎𝜏 𝐵𝑠 > 𝐵𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑠 < 𝜎𝜏

𝐵𝑠 < 𝐵𝐷 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑠 > 𝑇𝑐 𝐵𝑠 ≫ 𝐵𝐷 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑠 ≪ 𝑇𝑐

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 Flat fading
 If the mobile radio channel has a constant gain and
linear phase response over a bandwidth which is
greater than the bandwidth of the transmitted signal,
then the received signal will undergo flat fading.
◦ This type of fading is the most common type of fading.

 In flat fading, the multipath structure of the channel is

such that the spectral characteristics of the
transmitted signal are preserved at the receiver.
◦ However the strength of the received signal changes with
time, due to fluctuations in the gain of the channel caused
by multipath.

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 Flat fading
 Characteristics of a flat fading channel
◦ If the channel gain changes over time, a change of
amplitude occurs in the received signal.
◦ Over time, the received signal r(t) varies in gain, but
the spectrum of the transmission is preserved.

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 Flat fading
 In a flat fading channel,
◦ The reciprocal bandwidth of the transmitted signal is much
larger than the multipath time delay spread of the channel, and
 Typical flat fading channels cause deep fades, and thus may
require 20 or 30 dB more transmitter power to achieve low
bit error rates during times of deep fades as compared to
systems operating over non-fading channels.
 A signal undergoes flat fading if
𝐵𝑠 ≪ 𝐵𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝑇𝑠 ≫ 𝜎𝜏
◦ where 𝑇𝑠 is the reciprocal bandwidth (e.g., symbol period) and Bs
is the bandwidth of the transmitted modulation, and
◦ 𝜎𝜏 and 𝐵𝑐 are the rms delay spread and coherence bandwidth of
the channel.

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 Frequency Selective Fading
 If the channel possesses a constant-gain and linear phase
response over a bandwidth that is smaller than the
bandwidth of transmitted signal,
◦ Then the channel creates frequency selective fading on the
received signal.
 Under such conditions the channel impulse response has a
multipath delay spread which is greater than the reciprocal
bandwidth of the transmitted message waveform.
◦ When this occurs, the received signal includes multiple versions
of the transmitted waveform which are attenuated (faded) and
delayed in time, and hence the received signal is distorted.
 Frequency selective fading is due to time dispersion of the
transmitted symbols within the channel.
◦ Thus the channel induces intersymbol interference (ISI).
◦ Viewed in the frequency domain, certain frequency components
in the received signal spectrum have greater gains than others.

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 Frequency Selective Fading
 Frequency selective fading channels are much more difficult
to model than flat fading channels since each multipath signal
must be modeled and the channel must be considered to be
a linear filter.
◦ For this reason, wideband multipath measurements are made,
and models are developed from these measurements.
 For frequency selective fading, the spectrum S(f) of the
transmitted signal has a bandwidth which is greater than the
coherence bandwidth Bc of the channel.
 Frequency selective fading is caused by multipath delay &
which approach or exceed the symbol period of the
transmitted symbol.
 Also known as wideband channels
◦ since the bandwidth of the signal s(t) is wider than the
bandwidth of the channel impulse response.

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 Frequency Selective Fading
As time varies, the channel varies in gain and phase
across the spectrum of s(t), resulting in time varying
distortion in the received signal r(t).

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 Frequency Selective Fading
 A signal undergoes flat fading if
𝐵𝑠 > 𝐵𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝑇𝑠 < 𝜎𝜏
◦ where 𝑇𝑠 is the reciprocal bandwidth (e.g., symbol
period) and Bs is the bandwidth of the transmitted
modulation, and
◦ 𝜎𝜏 and 𝐵𝑐 are the rms delay spread and coherence
bandwidth of the channel.

 A common rule is that a channel is frequency

selective if 𝑇𝑠 ˂10𝜎𝜏
◦ This is dependent on the specific type of modulation
used.

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 Fast Fading
 Depending on how rapidly the transmitted baseband signal
changes as compared to the rate of change of the channel,
◦ A channel may be classified either as a fast fading or slow fading
channel.
 In a fast fading channel, the channel impulse response changes
rapidly within the symbol duration.
◦ That is, the coherence time of the channel is smaller than the
symbol period of the transmitted signal.
 This causes frequency dispersion (also called time selective fading) due to
Doppler spreading, which leads to signal distortion.
◦ Viewed in the frequency domain, signal distortion due to fast
fading increases with increasing Doppler spread relative to the
bandwidth of the transmitted signal.
 A signal undergoes fast fading if
𝑇𝑠 > 𝑇𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝐵𝑠 < 𝐵𝐷

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 Slow Fading
 In a slow fading channel, the channel impulse response changes
at a rate much slower than the transmitted baseband signal s(t).
◦ In this case, the channel may be assumed to be static over one or
several reciprocal bandwidth intervals.
 In the frequency domain, this implies that the Doppler spread
of the channel is much less than the bandwidth of the baseband
signal.
 A signal undergoes slow fading if
𝑇𝑠 ≪ 𝑇𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝐵𝑠 ≫ 𝐵𝐷
 It should be clear that the velocity of the mobile and the
baseband signaling determines whether a signal undergoes fast
fading or slow fading.
◦ Fast and slow fading deal with the relationship between the time
rate of change in the channel and the transmitted signal, and not
with propagation path loss models.

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 Type of Fading

Type of fading
experienced by a
signal as a function of
(a) symbol period
(b) baseband signal
bandwidth.

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