Ch4.

Capacity of
Wireless Channels
from Andrea Goldsmith book

Instructor:
• Mohammed Taha O. El Astal

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 Introduction

Wireless Channel

In communications, the capacity of channel dictate the maximum data

rate that can be transmitted over wireless channels with small error
probability, assuming no constraints on delay or complexity of the encoder
and decoder.
 4.1 Capacity in AWGN channel

AWGN channel
x[i] y[i]
+
where :
•B is the channel BW in Hz.
•P is the transmitted power in watt. n[i]
•C is the capacity of channel in bps.
Shannon's coding theorem proves that a code exist that achieve R arbitrarily
close to C with small BER.
The converse theorem shows that any code with R>C has a BER bounded
away from zero.
The proofs of the coding theorem and converse place no constraints on the
complexity or delay of the system, so it use as upper bound of R that can be
achieved in real communications systems.
 CONT.
At the time that Shannon developed his theory of information:
•R over standard telephone lines =100 bps.
•By Shannon, R = 30 kbps
•It was not a useful bound for real systems.
However, breakthroughs in hardware, modulation,
and coding techniques have brought commercial
modems of today very close to the speeds predicted by Shannon in the
1940s.
 In fact, current modems can exceed this 30-kbps limit, why ?
 CONT.

EXAMPLE 4.1:
Consider a wireless channel where power falloff with distance follows the formula Pr(d )
= Pt(d0/d )3 for d0 = 10 m. Assume the channel has bandwidth B = 30 kHz and AWGN
with noise PSD N0/2, where N0 = 10−9 W/Hz. For a transmit power of 1W, find the
capacity of this channel for a transmit–receive distance of 100 m and 1 km.

SNR1=33=15dB
C1=152.6Kbit/sec
SNR2=33=15dB
C2=1.4Kbit/sec
Note the significant decrease in capacity at greater distances due to the path-loss
exponent of 3, which greatly reduces received power as distance increases.
 4.2 Capacity of Flat Fading Channels :

The channel gain g[i] follows a given distribution p(g).

g[i] is independent of the channel input.
g[i] can change at each time i, either as i.i.d process or with some correlation
over time.
In a block fading channel, g[i] is constant over some block length T, after which
time g[i] changes to a new independent value based on the distribution p(g).
Let Ṗ denote the average Tx. power, N0 is PSD of the n[i], and B is the received
BW, then determine SNR at Rx?? and the average SNR at Rx.??
 CONT.

Since Ṗ/N0B is a constant term , then the distribution of g[i]

determines the distribution of [i] and vice versa.
The channel gain g[i], also called CSI (Channel Side Information).
So, the Capacity of flat fading channel , depend on what known in TX
and RX :

simple design system

more C efficient
1. Channel distribution Information (CDI) at Tx. & Rx.
2. Receiver CSI.
3. Tx. & Rx. CSI.
 4.2.2 CDI known:

The capacity is given by:

is a quite complicated depending on the nature

of the fading distribution.
Moreover, fading correlation introduces
channel memory, and this makes finding the
solution even more difficult.
For these reasons, this case remains an open
problem for almost all channel distributions.
 4.2.3 CSI at Rx:
This case of the CSI (g[i]) is known at Rx. and also we assume that both
the Tx. and Rx. know the distribution of g[i].
C
Here, two capacity definition arise :
1. Shannon capacity .
120 kb/s
which define the maximum data rate that 80kb/
sec
50kb
can be transmitted over the channel with /sec

small error probability . 4k

good Excellent b V. good time

In this case, the Tx. must deal with the poor
 channel states which greatly reduce the Shannon Capacity.
Also, this case have a constant rate since the Tx. cannot adapt its strategy
relative to CSI.
 CONT.
2. Capacity with outage : pout

is defined as the maximum rate that can C

be transmitted over the channel with

120 kb/s
some outage probability corresponding 80kb/
sec
50kb
to the probability that the transmission /sec pout

4k
can not be decoded with negligible error
good Excellent b V. good time
probability.
In this case, a high data rate can be sent over the channel and decoded
correctly except when the channel is in a deep fade.
The probability of outage characterizes the probability of data loss or
equivalently of deep fading.
 Shannon “Ergodic” Capacity:
Shannon capacity of a fading channel with receiver CSI for an average power
constraint Ṗ can be obtained by :

In particular, it is incorrect to interpret it as the average capacity of the

instantaneous SNR, since only the receiver knows the instantaneous SNR.
The data rate transmitted over the channel is constant, regardless of γ.

Shannon capacity of a fading channel with receiver CSI only is less than the
Shannon capacity of an AWGN channel with the same average SNR.
The Fading will reducing the Shannon Capacity when only the Rx. has the CSI.
 CONT.
EXAMPLE 4.2:
Consider a flat fading channel with i.i.d. channel gain √g[i], which can take on
three possible values: √g1 = .05 with probability p1 = .1, √g2 = .5 with
probability p2 = .5, and √g3 = 1 with probability p3 = .4. The transmit power is
10 mW, the noise power spectral density N0/2 has N0 = 10−9 W/Hz, and the
channel bandwidth is 30 kHz.
Assume the receiver has knowledge of the instantaneous value of g[i] but the
transmitter does not. Find the Shannon capacity of this channel and compare
with the capacity of an AWGN channel with the same average SNR.

SNR1=.8333=-.79dB
SNR2=83.333=19.2dB
SNR3=333.33=25dB
C=199.22Kbps
average SNR=175.08=22.43dBC=223.8kbps
Note that this rate is about 25 kbps larger than that of the flat fading channel with
receiver CSI and the same average SNR.
 Capacity with outage :
At Transmitter : At Receiver :

specify γmin γ
declare Everyth
Tx will transmit using an ing is
γ
C correspond to min outage fine

Capacity with outage applies to slowly varying channels.

Since TX. does not know γ value, it must fix a R (corresponding γmin)
to independent of the instantaneous received SNR.
The probability of outage is thus Pout = p (γ < γmin).
The average rate correctly received is Cout = (1−Pout)Blog2(1+ γmin)
since data is only correctly received on 1 − Pout transmissions.
 CONT.
The value of γmin is a design parameter.
Capacity with outage is typically
characterized by a plot of capacity
versus outage.
 Here, the normalized capacity C/B as a
function of outage probability Pout for a
Rayleigh fading channel is shown.
In general :
γmin ++pout++C++
γmin --pout--C--
 CONT.
EXAMPLE 4.3:
Assume the same channel as in the previous example, with a bandwidth of 30
kHz and three possible received SNRs: γ1 = .8333 with p(γ1) = .1, γ2 = 83.33
with p(γ2 ) = .5, and γ3 = 333.33 with p(γ3) = .4.
Find the capacity versus outage for this channel, and find the average rate
correctly received for outage probabilities Pout < .1, Pout = .1, and Pout = .6.

for Pout < .1C= 26.23 kbps.C0=26.23Kbps

For .1 ≤ Pout < .6C=191.94kbps C0= 172.75 kbps.
For .6 ≤ Pout < 1C=251.55kbps C0= 125.78 kbps.
 4.2.4 CSI at TX. & RX. :

When both the Tx. & Rx. have CSI, the C

Tx. can adapt its strategy relative to this

120 kb/s
CSI. 80kb/
sec
Since the Tx. knows the channel , there 50kb
/sec

is no need to send bit unless the RX. can

4k

decode it correctly. good Excellent b V. good time

 CONT.

This case originally considered by Wolfowitz.

The derivation leads to the following results:
the optimal power adaption that maximize C will be as follow :

for some cutoff value

the cutoff value γ0 must satisfy

If γ [i] is below this cutoff then no data is transmitted over the ith time
interval, so the channel is used at time i only if γ0 ≤ γ [i] < ∞.
The capacity will be by :
 CONT.

Note that this multiplexing strategy is not only the way to achieve that
capacity ,it can also be achieved by adapting the Tx. power and sending
at fix rate
Zero-outage capacity & channel Inversion :

Alternatively, do inversion for the fading

effect to have a fixed Rx. SNR (also fixed R). C

Use at the transmitter, where

σ is the required constant Rx. SNR.
The channel then appears to the encoder
and decoder as a time-invariant AWGN
channel. good Excellent b V. good time

this value σ must satisfy :

Additional capacity due
So
to additional Tx. power.
and
 CONT.

It is called zero-outage capacity, since the data rate is fixed under all
channel conditions and there is no channel outage.
It has the advantage of maintaining a fixed data rate over the channel
regardless of channel conditions.
It exhibit a large data-rate reduction relative to Shannon capacity in
extreme fading environments.
for example , in Rayleigh fading,, E[1/γ ] is infinite and thus the zero-outage
capacity is zero
 CONT.
EXAMPLE 4.5:
Assume the same channel as in the previous example, with a bandwidth of 30
kHz and three possible received SNRs: γ1 = .8333 with p(γ1) = .1, γ2 = 83.33
with p(γ2 ) = .5, and γ3 = 333.33 with p(γ3) = .4.
Assuming transmitter and receiver CSI, find the zero-outage capacity of this
channel.

E[1/SNR]=.1272C=94.43 kbps.
Note that this is less than half of the Shannon capacity with optimal water-filling
adaptation.
Outage Capacity and Truncated Ch. Inversion:
The problem
The solution
zero-outage capacity
must maintains a By suspending
constant R in all fading transmission in bad
states fading states ,so we
maintain a higher
this cause
constant R in the
zero-outage capacity other states and
significantly smaller thereby significantly
than Shannon capacity increase capacity
states
outage capacity (through
truncated channel
inversion)
 CONT.

The outage Capacity is defined as the maximum R that can be

maintained in all non outage channel state times.
Outage capacity is achieved with truncated channel inversion policy
for power adaption that only compensate for fading above a certain
cutoff fade depth γ0.

The outage capacity associated with a given outage probability Pout

and corresponding cutoff γ0 is given by
 CONT.
EXAMPLE 4.6:
Assume the same channel as in the previous example, with a bandwidth of 30
kHz and three possible received SNRs: γ1 = .8333 with p(γ1) = .1, γ2 = 83.33
with p(γ2 ) = .5, and γ3 = 333.33 with p(γ3) = .4.
Find the outage capacity of this channel and associated outage probabilities for
cutoff values γ0 = .84 and γ0 = 83.4. Which of these cutoff values yields a larger
outage capacity?

E[1/SNR]= .0072C=192.457 kbps.

E[1/SNR]=.0012C= 116.45 kbps.

The outage capacity is larger when the channel is used for SNRs γ2 and γ3. Even
though the γ3 is significantly larger than γ2 , the fact that this larger SNR occurs
only 40% of the time makes it inefficient to only use the channel in this best state.
 4.2.5 Capacity with receiver diversity :

The prop. effects lead to depolarization .

Thus, receiving both polarizations using a dual-polarized antenna, and

processing the signals separately, offers diversity.
But the average Rx. signal strength in the two diversity branches is not
identical, this lead to decrease the effectiveness this scheme.
Various antenna arrangements have been proposed in order to mitigate
this problem.
 4.3 Capacity of frequency selective fading channels :

C of F.S. fading Ch.

C of time varying-F.S.
C of TI-F.S. fading ch.
fading ch.

When the channel is time invariant , it is

typically assumed that H(f) is known at
both the Tx. and Rx.
Here, we will assume that the fading is
block fading, so the channel will appear as
a set of AWGN channel in parallel with
SNR : in the jth channel
 CONT.

it is same as the case of water filling but with frequency instead of
time, so :

for some cutoff value γ0 which must satisfy :

Then the capacity become as follow :

 CONT.
EXAMPLE 4.7:
Consider a time-invariant frequency-selective block fading channel that has
three sub channels of bandwidth B = 1 MHz. The frequency responses
associated with each sub channel are H1 = 1, H2 = 2, and H3 = 3, respectively.
The transmit power constraint is P = 10 mW and the noise PSD N0/2 has N0 =
10−9 W/Hz.
Find the Shannon capacity of this channel and the optimal power allocation that
achieves this capacity.
γ1 = 10, γ2 = 40, and γ3 = 90.
γ0 = 2.64
C= 10.93 Mbps.
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