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Outage Probability of Triple-Hop Mixed RF/FSO/RF Stratospheric Communication Systems
Outage Probability of Triple-Hop Mixed RF/FSO/RF Stratospheric Communication Systems
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5 authors, including:
Petros S. Bithas
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
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Abstract—This paper proposes a triple-hop mixed Radio- received signal due to variations of the Index of Refraction
Frequency/Free-Space-Optical/Radio-Frequency (RF/FSO/RF) Turbulence (IRT) along the propagation path resulting by the
communication system, which intends to support wireless long- inhomogeneities in temperature and pressure fluctuations,
range links between two terrestrial stations via two especially for link distances of 1 km and above [6].
stratospheric relays. It is considered that these terrestrial Moreover, beam pointing error effects are highly pronounced
stations communicate with the relays over RF links, whereas on the performance of a stratospheric network, which
the relays communicate with each other over a FSO link. The involves large distances and possible displacement of the
RF channels experience Rician fading due to the Line-of-Sight platforms due to the winds or pressure variations of the
(LoS) and Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) signal components.
stratosphere [7]. In addition, both mechanical vibrations and
Besides, the optical channel is affected by atmospheric
attenuation, atmospheric turbulence, and pointing errors.
electronic noise may cause the received spots from the laser
Mathematical expressions for the outage probability are beams to wander on the detector planes. Hence, acquisition,
derived, considering the beam wander effect. The results pointing, and tracking errors should also be mitigated to
demonstrate the theoretical derivations. achieve high directivity of the transmitted beam. To extend
the network range, and effectively combat the effect of
Keywords-Atmospheric turbulence; beam wander; Free- turbulence, the use of relay-aided transmission schemes has
Space-Optical (FSO) communications; High-Altitude Platforms been suggested [8]. In [7], a full-FSO system with multiple
(HAPs); outage probability; pointing errors; Rician channels. stratospheric relays and fixed stations on the ground was
proposed. However, FSO systems should operate under
I. INTRODUCTION accurate pointing requirements. Hence, employing FSO
techniques is highly challenging and insufficient as soon as
The development of next-generation wireless broadband the terrestrial stations are in motion.
communications comprises the seamless integration of Motivated by these observations, this paper investigates
terrestrial and aerospace infrastructures over heterogeneous the use of two stratospheric relays acting as Decode-and-
networks [1]. In recent years, the use of mobile airborne Forward (DF) relay nodes, in order to facilitate challenging
services via High-Altitude Platforms (HAPs) flying in the triple-hop long-range wireless communication between two
stratosphere has been suggested for civil and military terrestrial mobile stations. Although the Amplify-and-
applications [2]. To successfully fulfill the demands of future Forward (AF) scheme is simple to implement, DF offers
wireless communication services, shifting from the Radio- better performance and is a common assumption in multi-
Frequency (RF) domain to the optical domain is hop networks. A mixed RF/FSO/RF airborne communication
indispensable [3] [4]. In Free-Space-Optical (FSO) systems, scenario is considered, where an RF transmission scheme is
the data is transmitted at high data rates in the multigigabit adopted for the communication between the terrestrial
regime using collimated highly directed laser beams with stations and the stratospheric relays, whereas these relays are
compact equipment and low power consumption. The FSO interconnected through an FSO link. A stratospheric
technology ensures privacy with low probability of communication channel is expected to be Rician in its
interception, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and general form [9]. Hence, the Rician distribution is adopted to
exemption from spectrum regulatory restrictions. model the channels for the RF links. To investigate the effect
The stratosphere stands for a propagation medium well of atmospheric turbulence on the FSO link, a Kolmogorov
suited for FSO connections. Hopefully, the inter-HAP power spectrum for refractive-index fluctuations is
crosslink is above attenuating clouds, fog or significant considered and the Gamma-Gamma (G-G) distribution is
aerosols. Hence, inter-HAP distances of up to 900 km are used, which matched data values obtained from
possible with 100% availability [5]. Nevertheless, measurements, under a variety of turbulence conditions [10].
stratospheric FSO links may experience substantial Finally, the effects of pointing errors are described by the
fluctuations in both the intensity and the phase of the Rayleigh distribution [7]. Mathematical expressions are
derived for the outage probability and numerical results are the biased signal is sent to a continuous wave laser driver.
provided for different values of the system parameters. The retransmitted optical signal at R1 is written as [12]
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section II
presents the system model. In Section III, the RF and FSO
yR1 ,opt Popt 1 MyS , R1 , (3)
fading channels are modeled. In Section IV, the outage
probability is mathematically derived. Results are provided where Popt denotes the average transmitted optical power
in Section V. Finally, conclusions are drawn in Section VI.
and it is related to the relay electrical power PR1 by the
II. SYSTEM MODEL electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency η1 as
This paper considers a mixed RF/FSO/RF airborne Popt n1 PR1 , and M denotes the modulation index.
communication system with slowly-varying and frequency-
flat-fading channels. As shown in Figure 1, the transmitted The optical signal at R2 received from R1 can be
signal from a source node propagates through two serial DF expressed as
stratospheric relays of similar size and type before arriving at
a destination node. It is considered that the direct link
yR1 , R2 I Popt 1 MyS , R1 nR2 ,
(4)
between the source and the destination is obstructed due to
high attenuation. To aid our analysis, the subscripts S, D, and where I > 0 is the received fading gain (irradiance) between
Rm , where 1 m 2, are affiliated with the source, the the laser of R1 and the photodetector of R2 through the
destination, and the m-th relay, respectively. In this system, optical channel and nR2 is the zero-mean complex Gaussian
the S–R1 and R2–D links use RF technology, while the R1–R2 noise at R2 with N o, R2 noise PSD.
link is based on FSO technology. The communication is
assumed to operate in a half-duplex mode and to be The DC component is filtered out at R2 and an optical-to-
conducted over three phases: S → R1, R1 → R2, and R2 → D. electrical conversion is performed. Then, assuming that
The source and the destination are equipped with single M = 1, the received signal can be expressed as
antennas. Besides, the relays not only include antennas, but
also lasers and photo-detectors. yR1 , R2 I Pele Popt yS , R1 nR2 , (5)
A. First RF Link where Pele n2 Popt n1n2 PR1 is the electrical power
The received signal at the stratospheric relay R1 can be received at R2 and n2 is the optical-to-electrical conversion
expressed as [11] efficiency.
The instantaneous SNR at R2 can be approximated as
yS , R1 PS hS , R1 xS , R1 nR1 , (1) [11]
wLT w 1 1.33 R2 5/6 is the long-term spot radius, w is ar is the receiver aperture radius.
2
the beam radius at the receiver, 2 L / kw , 2pe is the Using (12), (13), and (17), the PDF of the composite
channel in (11) can be evaluated by writing the Bessel
variance of pointing error caused by beam wander ([22], p.
function K u in terms of the Meijer’s G-function as [7]
350), B2 is the Rytov variance with beam wander correction
([22], p. 351), 0 / 02 02 , 0 1 L / F0 , F0 is
fI I
ab 2
G
3,0 ab
I
2
. (18)
AI a b
l 1,3 l 2
the phase curvature parameter of the Gaussian beam at the AI 1, a 1, b 1
transmitter, 0 2 L / kw02 , and w0 is the transmitter beam
Using (18), the PDF of the instantaneous SNR received at R2,
radius. Using [23, eq. (3)], one can also obtain the
denoted as R1 , R2 , can be expressed as
Scintillation Index (SI) I2 . The value of Cn2 represents the
2
turbulence condition of the atmosphere and can be estimated
using the Hufnagel-Valley model, which is based on various
f R
1, R2
R , R 2 AI l aba b
1 2
1
R1 , R2 R1 , R2
empirical scintillation data of the atmosphere. This model
defines the index of refraction structure parameter as a R1 , R2 2
3,0 ab
function of the wind speed and the altitude of the HAPs G1,3 l , (19)
above the ground level as ([22], p. 481) AI R1 , R2 2 1, a 1, b 1
2
where R1 , R2 is the average SNR received at R2.
u
h
10
Cn2 h 0.00594 105 h exp
27 1000
h ˆ h IV. DERIVATION OF OUTAGE PROBABILITY
2.7 1016 exp A exp , (16)
1500 100 The outage probability is defined as the probability that
the SNR at the destination falls below a predetermined
where  is the nominal value of the Cn2 0 at the ground, u outage threshold out , i.e., Pout Pr D out , where
is wind speed in m/s, and h is the altitude of the HAPs in Pr is the probability operation. In this case, the
meters. As Cn2 increases, the turbulence becomes stronger. communication system cannot achieve adequate reception.
For applications involving propagation along a horizontal The outage probability can be obtained from the Cumulative
Distribution Function (CDF) of the end-to-end SNR as
path, it is customary to assume that Cn2 remains constant
Pout F D out . This CDF can be written in terms of the
[22].
CDFs of the three hops’ SNRs as [24]
C. Effects of Pointing Errors
F D out
To ensure that the communication scenario is viable,
proper LoS alignment between the relays via appropriate
1 1 F S , R1 out 1 F R1 , R2 out 1 F R1 , D out ,
pointing and tracking mechanisms is required. In this paper,
a model that incorporates geometric spreading in the pointing (20)
error PDF ([18], p. 1703) is used. Considering a Gaussian where F S , R1 out , F R1 , R2 out , and F R1 , D out are
beam profile of beam waist wz (at a distance z) and modeling
the CDFs of the SNRs of the first, second, and third hop,
the random radial displacement of the beam at the detector as
p
respectively. One observes that the system falls in outage
Rayleigh distributed, the PDF of the pointing error I providing that at least one of the three hops gets in outage or,
includes the random attenuation due to both geometric equivalently, the SNR of one hop becomes less than out .
spreading and pointing errors and can be expressed as [18]
The CDF of the instantaneous SNR received at R1 can be
2 2 expressed as [25]
fI p I p
2
I p 1
, 0 I p A, (17)
A 2 K1 1
F S , R S , R1 1 Q1 2 K1 ,
S , R1
S , R1 , (21)
1
2
where g = weq / 2s s , weq wz2 erf u / 2u exp u 2
is the equivalent beam width at the receiver, u = where Q1 is the first-order Marcum Q-function. The CDF
( )(
p ar / )
2 wz , s s is the jitter standard deviation due to F R R , D of the Rician distribution for the second RF
2 ,D 2
the pointing error at the detector determined by the degree of link can be similarly defined by replacing the indices.
The CDF of the instantaneous SNR received at R2 can be
obtained as follows
R1 , R2
R1 , R2 x dx.
Outage Probability
F R R f R , R (22)
1 2 1 2
0