IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS. VOL
OCTOBER 1992 I209
Channel Modeling and Simulation in Satellite Mobile
Communication Systems
Branka Vucetic and Jun Du, Member, IEEE
Abstract-In this paper, an analog model describing signal
amplitude and phase variations on shadowed satellite mobile
channels is proposed. A linear combination of log-normal, Ray-
leigh, and Rice models is used to describe signal variations over
an area with constant environment attributes while an M-state
Markov chain is applied to represent environment parameter
variations.
Channel parameters are evaluated from the experimental
data and utilized to verify a simulation model. Results pre-
sented in the form of signal waveforms, probability density
functions, fade durations, and average bit and block error rates
show close agreement with measurements.
I. INTRODUCTION
R ECENTLY a number of models have been proposed
to characterize propagation in satellite mobile com-
munication systems. Most of them are developed to rep-
resent digital error sequences encountered in real digital
communication links [ 11, [2]. Digital error sequences in
these models are characterized by M-state Markov chains.
The error sequence models based on Markov chains de-
scribe channels with binary inputs and outputs. Such
models are useful in voice codec and hard decision error
control codec testing. However, to obtain the optimum
use of the received signal in systems with forward error
correction, the soft decision decoding algorithms are used.
In simulation of such communication systems, an analog
model described by amplitude and phase channel distor-
tion is required.
A wide range of experiments have been performed on
satellite mobile communication systems to obtain essen-
tial channel characteristics including signal attenuation
statistics, phase variations, fading rate, and Doppler
spread [ 3 ] - [ 5 ] .The results obtained from the propagation
experiments indicate that the statistical character of signal
variations strongly depends on the type of environment in
which the vehicle is located. We define three common
types of environment according to the degree of the line-
of-sight obstruction. Statistical models describing signal
envelope and phase are derived for each of the three rep-
resentative types of environment. The models are fitted to
Manuscript received August 1. 1991; revised July 29, 1992. This work
was supported in part by IR&D Board Grants 17001 and 17016 and a
ATERB grant.
B. Vucetic is with Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.
J . Du is with the Australian and Overseas Telecommunications Corpo-
ration, Sydney, Australia.
IEEE Log Number 9202440.
0733-8716/92$03.00 L 1992 IEEE
IO. NO. 8.
the actual propagation data recorded in typical environ-
ment conditions.
As a vehicle moves from one location to another, the
environment properties vary resulting in nonstationary
statistical character of the received signal. Experimental
data, however, indicate that real land mobile satellite
channels can be viewed as quasistationary. The quasista-
tionary nature of the model is based on the assumption of
slowly varying environment characteristics such as ele-
vation angle, obstacle type, and surface roughness. The
environment attributes are assumed to be constant within
a small area. Consequently, channels can be viewed as
operating in one of a finite number of possible channel
states. Each state is modeled by one of the three proposed
models for typical environment conditions.
The switching process between quasistationary states is
represented by a finite state Markov model. This model
can accurately represent a real channel and generate am-
plitude and phase channel distortions as required in for-
ward error correcting systems with soft decision decod-
ing.
A method to determine channel parameters from exper-
imental data is proposed. The analytical model is verified
by experimental channel data. The channel data have been
recorded in land mobile satellite propagation measure-
ments at L band in Australian rural, suburban, and urban
areas [7], [8]. The proposed analytical model can be ap-
plied to reproduce land mobile satellite channel data and
to make quantitative estimates of the influence of multi-
path propagation and shadowing on modulation and cod-
ing techniques.
11. PROPAGATION CHARACTERISTICS OF LANDMOBILE
SATELLITE
LINKS
In transmission between a moving vehicle and satellite,
the propagation takes place via many paths. Propagation
measurements indicate that a significant fraction of the
total energy arrives at the receiver by way of the direct
path. The remaining power is received by the specular
ground reflected path and the many random scattering
paths which form the diffuse signal component shown in
Fig. 1.
The direct wave arrives at the receiver site via a line-
of-sight path without reflection. The propagation of the
direct path is affected by free space attenuation, Faraday
1210 IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS I N COMMUNICATIONS. VOL. IO. NO. 8. OCTOBER 1992

signal path length through the obstacle, type of obstacle,

elevation angle, direction of travel, and carrier frequency.
The shadowing is more severe at low elevation angles,
where the obstacle projected shadow is high. The extent
of fading induced by vegetation is also dependent on the
frequency of tree interception, the path length through the
trees, and the density of branches and foliage. At fre-
quencies lower than 1 GHz, trees are virtually transparent
to the signal. For higher frequencies, trees are regarded
as ideal edge refractors in order to estimate the amount of
signal attenuation [ 121.
The direct signal attenuation in rural wood areas, for
Fig. 1. Propagation model of land mobile satellite links. frequencies in L band, can be computed by using an em-
pirical formula [13]
rotation, ionospheric scintillation, and shadowing. For a, = 0.45f:.'84 d dB 0 5 d 5 14 (2)
frequencies up to about 10 GHz, the propagation is not
affected by rain. It is convenient to use the direct path as where d is the signal path through the tree in meters and
delay, Doppler, and amplitude reference for the reflected f , . is the carrier frequency in GHz. A typical shadowing
paths. attenuation of a building, bridge, or tree is on the order
Faraday rotation is rotation of the polarization axis of of 8-20 dB relative to the signal mean value.
a noncircularly polarized wave caused by the ionosphere. Thefade duration is defined as the length of time over
It can be expressed as [9] which the signal attenuation is higher than a specified
value in dB. It has been found [3] that fade durations in
an environmentally homogenous area follow log-normal
2.36
fl = f 2 s BL (Gauss)N dl radians (') distribution

where BL is the component of the earth's magnetic field 1

along the direct path, N is the electron density in electrons
per meter cubed, andfis frequency in Hz. The integration
in (1) is performed along the direct path S.
Extensive experimental measurements show that the
loss introduced by Faraday rotation in the L band for lin-
early polarized antennas for the worst 1 % of a year under
worst conditions (low elevation angles of 20" and in the
period of solar maximum 1979-1980) [lo] is of the order
of 3 dB. The loss can be eliminated by using circular po-
larization of the carriers.
Ionospheric scintillation is produced by irregularities in
the electron density in the ionosphere which consists of
three layers, designated by D , E , and F i n order of height.
In each layer, the density of electrons increases with al-
titude up to a maximum value, then decreases or remains
constant up to the boundary of the next layer. The density
of electrons in particular layers varies according to the
solar cycles. In addition to these three regular layers, there
is so-called sporadic E layer. It represents a cloud of elec-
trons with the density highly different from the remaining
layers. It is situated at a height of about 100 km.
Nonhomogenous ionized layers cause scattered reflec-
tion of radio waves in L band, resulting in fluctuations in
amplitude and phase of the received signal. The scattered
signals decrease rapidly as the frequency increases. The
CCIR data on ionosphere scintillation [lo] show that its
effect on transmission in L band can be ignored.
Shadowing is attenuation of the direct path caused by
roadside trees, buildings, hills, and mountains. Measured
results [ 111 indicate that shadowing is the most dominant
factor determining signal fading. Its effect depends on the
~ the standard deviation of lnx, which has a nor-
where u , is
mal distribution.
The specular path is produced by signal reflection from
the ground in the direction of the satellite. This path ar-
rives at -8, where 8 is the elevation angle of the satellite
as seen from the vehicle. The magnitude of the ground-
reflected wave is proportional to the terrain roughness fac-
tor. The effect of the specular path on the direct path at
the receiver site can be reduced by the vehicle antenna
directivity, and its impact can be neglected. [9]
The di$use component results from various reflections
from the surrounding terrain. This component varies ran-
domly in amplitude and phase. Multipath propagation
does not cause significant losses for land mobiles. Even
on roads with snow, for elevation angles above 24" the
ratio of the direct-to-multipath component is higher than
10 dB [13].
111. SYSTEMFUNCTION MODELING
In the previous section, we have considered some prop-
agation phenomena that take place in land satellite mobile
communications. For modem and codec design and per-
formance evaluation, there is a need for a system function
statistical model. Such a model can be derived from the
previous propagation considerations. Since the propaga-
tion aspects differ for various environments, the first step
toward developing a meaningful channel model is to iden-
tify typical environment categories. We will restrict our
definitions to three representative environment types:
VUCETIC AND DU: CHANNEL MODELING AND SIMULATION
urban areas with almost complete obstruction of the
direct wave
open areas with no obstruction of the direct wave
suburban and rural areas with partial obstruction of
the direct wave.
A. Channel Models f o r Urban Areas
In urban areas, the direct line between the mobile unit
and the satellite is almost completely obstructed by high
buildings and multistory residences. Therefore, electro-
magnetic energy propagation in urban areas is largely by
way of scattering. In such a case, the vehicle picks up
reflected signals from all directions in the horizontal
plane. The received signal consists of many independent
components with random phases. These signals collec-
tively add to give a net signal at the receiver that varies
randomly in amplitude and phase. The envelope of the
received signal then undergoes fading with a Rayleigh
statistical distribution. The received phases, however,
have a uniform probability density over the range 0 to 27r.
We will restrict our attention to systems with a signal
bandwidth small enough that a nonfrequency selective
model is appropriate, as in the case of the planned land
mobile satellite service in Australia [ 141 and Canada [ 151.
Consider a situation where a mobile receives N indirect
signals. The ith indirect signal, coming in at an azimuthal
angle 8; with respect to the direction of travel, of the re-
ceiver will experience a Doppler shift
vfc
j-di = --os ei
c dlimited between -. + A?,.The frequency inis called the
where c is the speed of light. The instantaneous value of
the ith reflected signal is
4 ( t ) = D,( t ) cos (2Kfct + 6 d r )
where D , ( t ) is the signal envelope, J is the carrier fre-
quency. The ith signal phase 6 d r is given by
6di = 2Xfdrf + 61
where + l is the transmitted signal phase. Alternatively,
the ith reflected signal can be expressed as
d, ( t ) = dl, ( t ) cos 27r- t - d,, ( t ) sin 27rfcr
where dll is the ith signal in-phase and d,, is its quadrature
component.
The resulting diffuse signal is given by the sum of N
independent waves
N In open areas such as farm land or open fields, essen-
d(r) = c D,(t) cos (27rfcr + 6 d r ) .
I = I
One can also express the resulting signal in terms of its
in-phase and quadrature components as
d(r) = dl cos 27rfct - d , sin 27r-t.
121 I
The resulting I and Q components can be computed as the
sum of the corresponding individual components as
v
dI(0 = c 4;(0
i= I
and
N
As a consequence of the Central Limit Theorem, when N
gets very large and approaches infinity, as is the case in
heavily built-up areas, d , ( t ) and d,(t) each become un-
correlated Gaussian random processes with zero mean and
variance U:. The probability density function of the signal
envelope
D(r) = Jdf + d,(r)’
has a Rayleigh distribution of the form
where 2u; is the mean signal power which depends on the
properties of the surrounding terrain. The phase of the
received signal is uniformly distributed from zero to 27r.
If an unmodulated frequency f,. is transmitted, the ith
component has Doppler shift of (z,f,./c) cos e;, where
- 1 < cos 8, < 1 . All N components will be shifted into
the range 2% / c = &A,,. Therefore, the received signal
experiences a form of frequency spreading and is ban-
(4)
fade rare.
Assuming N is very large and uniform power is re-
ceived for all 8, the power spectrum of the received un-
modulated signal is
S(f) = forf 5 Ifc * fml
Typical received signal variations recorded in an urban
area in Sydney, with an elevation angle of 5 1 O at 1.545 15
GHz at a mobile speed of 60 km/h, are illustrated in Fig.
2 while a simulated channel waveform for the same chan-
ne1 is shown in Fig. 3 . The experimental and best-fit Ray-
leigh simulated probability density functions for the same
channel are depicted in Fig. 4.
B. Channel Model f o r Open Areas
(5) tially there are no obstacles on the line-of-sight path. The
distortion-free received direct wave s ( t ) interferes with the
diffuse wave d ( t ) . The resulting wave is given by the sum
r(r) = s ( r ) + d(r) + g ( r ) (8)
( 6 ) where g ( r ) is additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN).
 I

1212 IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS. VOL. IO. NO. 8. OCTOBER 1992

nal is constant in obstruction-free open areas. The sum of

a constant envelope direct wave and a Rayleigh distrib-
uted diffuse wave results in a signal with Rician envelope
statistics with the pdf
p(R) = 2R4c-epK-(I+K)R' Z,(2R JK(Kfl))
(9)
where K denotes the power ratio between the direct and
diffuse components, and Z, is the modified Bassel function
J I, 2
of zero order.
TIME (Sec) The phase statistics of the Rician fading can be de-
Fig. 2. Sample of a signal envelope waveform recorded in an urban area scribed by [21]
in Sydney.

*
o c 1

where erfc is complementary error function

2 -
erfc (x) = - e P f 2dt. (1 1)
& .r

The experimental propagation measurements show that the

Rician factor K , being dependent on elevation angle, var-
ies between 10-20 dB in America and 15-20 dB in Aus-
0 05 I I5 2
tralia, while the diffuse component bandwidth was less
TIME (Sec)
than 200 Hz for vehicle speeds less than 100 km/h [8].
Fig. 3 . Sample of a simulated signal envelope waveform for an urban area
in Sydney. The field recording of the received envelope in an open
area is shown in Fig. 5 , while the simulated Rician wave-
form is shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 7 shows the empirical pdf
I I
together with the best-fit simulated Rician distribution ob-
tained for K = 14 dB [ 7 ] .

C . Channel Model f o r Suburban and Rural Areas

0. 01 06 06
SIGNAL AMPLlTUDE
Fig. 4. Empirical and simulated envelope pdfs for an urban area in Syd-
ney. Dash: Simulation. Solid: Experiment.
The diffuse component consists of many reflections
from the nearby surface, each of them being independent
and randomly phased. Hence, the probability density
function of its envelope D ( t ) is Rayleigh and given by (7).
The diffuse component has the fade rate
U!,
An = -.
The phase of the diffuse component is uniformly distrib-
uted between 0 and 27~.
The diffuse multipath component interferes with the di-
rect signal. We assume that the envelope of the direct sig-
In the rural and suburban areas, roads are surrounded
by trees, houses, or small buildings. All of these obstacles
near the mobile unit cause signal shadowing, manifested
as an attenuation of the direct wave. As the vehicle moves
along the road, the attenuation of the direct signal varies.
It has been experimentally observed that the attenuation
*
of the direct wave undergoes log-normal distribution [3],
[ 161. In areas with constant environment properties, the
channel can be adequately modeled by assuming that the
received signal is a linear combination of a direct and dif-
fuse scatter component received in the presence of white
additive Gaussian noise (AWGN). The resulting signal is
given by (8).
The fading rate of the direct component, however, is
significantly less than that of the diffuse component [3],
[ 131. Since the variations of the direct signal envelope are
slow, we can assume that its value over small areas (typ-
ically several tens of carrier wavelengths) is constant. The
conditional pdf of the received signal envelope, given the
envelope of the direct wave s, is ~ i ~ i ~ ~
R R2 + S2
VUCETIC A N D DU: CHANNEL MODELING AND SIMULATION 1213

1 " " " " ' l and the variance

7 1

= e'2~+i"i)(eai - 1) (15)
where p and U , are parameters.
The total probability is given by

P(W = i,,
CO

P ( R I S ) P ( S ) LIS. (16)

The probability density of the received direct signal phase

can be approximated by a Gaussian distribution [16], [ 171

Fig. 5 . Sample of a signal envelope waveform recorded in an open area In

NSW, Australia.

where m, and U, are the mean and standard deviation of

1 " " " " ' l the received signal phase.
The phase distribution of the diffuse wave is uniform
between 0 and 27r. According to (12)-(17), the statistical
model requires knowledge of the following parameters.
1) Average attenuation of the direct wave m,.
2) The variance of the direct wave u f .
1 3) The power of the diffuse component 20:.
4) The mean value of the received signal phase m,.
5) The variance of the received signal phase 0;.
The fact that the fade rate of the direct wave& (usually
several Hz) is significantly lower than the fade rate of the
Fig. 6 . Sample of a simulated signal envelope waveform for an open area diffuse wavef;,, (100-200 Hz) can be used to compute the
in NSW, Australia.
statistical parameters of the model [ 171.
This method is based on filtering the baseband received
signal by a lowpass filter with cutoff frequency& to obtain
the direct wave fading. This signal is subtracted from the
total received baseband signal to obtain the diffuse mul-
tipath fading.
The direct wave fading signal is then processed to com-
pute the envelope mean m,, the envelope standard devia-
tion us,the phase mean m,, and the phase standard devia-
tion ud. The diffuse fading signal is used to compute the
power of the diffuse multipath fading 2 u i .
These parameters are assumed to be constant over large
04 06 os 2
areas with constant environmental attributes such as the
SlGNALAMS'LlTLlDE type of trees and buildings, elevation angles, etc.
Fig. 7 . Empirical and simulated envelope pdf's for an open area in NSW, Channel parameters for two typical runs recorded in
Australia. Dash: Simulation. Solid: Experiment.
Sydney suburban areas are given in Table I. These values
refer to a normalized transmitted signal with the average
where 2 0 ; denotes the average scattered power due to power of 1.
multipath propagation. The light shadowing representative data in Table I were
The statistics of the direct signal envelope are described recorded on a typical rural road, where the obstacles were
by the log-normal pdf some tall trees and utility poles. The other run, repre-
senting heavy shadowing, was obtained on a road with a
1 canopy of trees. Branches of trees spreading along both
sides of the road overlap over the middle of the road,
forming a continuous tunnel of vegetation.
O I S 5 0 3 The field recording of the signal amplitude in a subur-
with the mean ban area in Sydney is shown in Fig. 8 , while the simulated
waveform for that channel is shown in Fig. 9. The mea-
m, = exp
( + 2)
p -
sured and best-fit simulated pdf's for the same channel are
depicted in Fig. 10 [7].
I
1214 IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS I N COMMUNICATIONS. VOL. 10. NO. 8. OCTOBER 1992

TABLE I

Type of
Shadowing Length ot Run 0, U</ m, (de@ ga (deg)

Light 222 seconds 0 781 0.259 0 151 0 086 9 680

Heavy 106 seconds 0 670 0 30 0 154 0 01 15 30 325

ceived signal cannot be represented by a model with con-

stant parameters. Such channel models are referred to as
nonstationary. Though statistical channel characteristics
can significantly vary over very large areas, propagation
experiments indicate that they remain constant over areas
with constant environmental attributes. Therefore, a land
satellite mobile channel can be modeled as “stationary”
over these areas. In this paper, the channel is modeled by
a finite-state Markov model [ 181, [ 191. In order to derive
a general model for any area, the whole area of interest
0 05 I 2 can be divided in M areas with constant environmental
TIME (Sec)
properties. Each of the M areas is modeled by one of the
Fig. 8. Sample of a simulated shadowed signal for a suburban area in
Sydney. three models considered in Section IIIA-C.
A nonstationary channel can, thus, be represented by
M stationary channel models. Particular channel states are
I I
described by Rician, Rayleigh, or shadowed short-term
models. Rician and Rayleigh channel models can be ob-
tained as special cases of the shadowed model. A Ray-
leigh channel is obtained if the log-noma1 component is
zero, whereas a Rician channel is generated if the log-
normal component is constant. For most experimental re-
cordings, it would be enough to use four states [17].
The switching process between states is described by
the transition probability matrix. The transition probabil-
ities are assumed to be constant during each state. The
I I
0 05 I iJ 2
transition probability matrix is given in the form
TIME (Sec)

Fig. 9. Sample of a field recording of a shadowed signal in a suburban

area in Sydney.

The matrix of the state probabilities is defined as

It can be computed from the matrix equations

[WllPI = [WI
[WI[EI = [I1
0 0. 8 1
SIGNAL AhWLITUDE
where [E] is a column matrix whose entries are 1’s and
Fig. 10. Empirical and simulated envelope pdf‘s for the total shadowed
signal in a suburban area. Dash: Simulation. Solid: Experiment.
[I] is the identity matrix.

IV. PROBABILITY OF ERROR FOR QPSK

D. Channel Models for Very Large Areas The proposed channel model can be applied in perfor-
As the vehicle moves from one location to another, the mance evaluation of various modulation and coding tech-
environmental properties change, resulting in varying sta- niques. Since quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) has
tistical character of the received signal. That is, the re- emerged as a promising candidate for land satellite mo-
VUCETIC AND DU: CHANNEL MODELING A N D SIMULATION 1215

bile, we will illustrate the performance evaluation of the
QPSK signaling technique.
Let us assume that U , represents a QPSK symbol sample
transmitted at time i. The corresponding received sample
at the input of the coherent demodulator is
rj = a, U , + n,
where a; is a real random variable equal to the envelope
of the channel attenuation normalized to the transmitted
signal, and ni is a sample of a zero mean complex additive
white Gaussian noise (AWGN). For error probability
analysis, we assume that the signal phase changes due to
fading are fully compensated. This assumption is based
on the measurements results from the Australian land mo-
bile satellite propagation experiment [8], which indicate
that the influence of phase fluctuations can be ignored ex-
cept in the case of very heavy shadowing with low gain
antenna.
The conditional bit error probability for QPSK modu-
lation given the fading attenuation due to shadowing a, in
the ith channel state is given by
Compute the power spectrum S ( f ) of the fading sig-
nal R ( t )e and estimate the direct signal bandwidth fs.
Pass the signal R ( t )e J @ r through a lowpass filter with
the bandwidth &, to obtain the direct path fading
S ( t )e l@'(low frequency fading component).
Subtract the filtered signal S ( t ) e J @from s the original
signal R ( t )e to obtain the diffuse path fading (high fre-
quency fading component) D ( t )e l@".
Pass S ( t )e J@Jr(r) and D ( t )e J @ d ( r ) through a processing
window in which power computation and channel state
classification are performed. The signal is processed in
the window frame-by-frame as follows.
1) Compute average powers P, and Pd, mean values
m, and m d , and standard deviations U, and Ud of
S ( t )el@'(')and R ( t )elmr(')over each frame, respectively.
2) Compute the Rician factor K : K = 10 log ( P , / P d ) .
3 ) From the range of possible values K , define ( Q -
1) discrete thresholds for Rician states KIR, K2R, * . ,
and J thresholds for shadowed states, K l s , K 2 R ,
and KJs, where J + + Q 1 = M . Define also a threshold

Phcr = Q (5)
4) Classify the signal using the thresholds KjR, i =
where U is the variance of the Gaussian noise in each sig- 1 , 2 , * . * , Q - 1; K J , , J = 1, 2, . . , J ; and T i n the
nal space coordinate. following way.
The average bit error probability in the ith channel state
is given by (J.7
nm / \ - I T and K IKIR -+ Rician State 1
ms
0s
- IT and K,R < K IK2R -+ Rician State 2
where p ( a i )is the probability distribution of fading atten- m,
uation in the ith state.
The average BER at the output of the demodulator for
an M-state Markov channel model is given by
M
p = c Phjq.
i= 1
(18)
0s
-
m5
I T and KQ- <K -+ Rician State Q

In digitized voice transmission, the data are typically ar- -

(J, > Tand K IK , , + Rayleigh State
ranged in blocks. For such blocked data, the statistics of m.7
how many bits per block are wrong is much less important
than the probability that a block is in error. Hence, the
block error probability is more often used for system per-
as
m,
> T and K > K l s -+ Shadowed State 1
formance evaluation. The block error probability is de-
fined as the probability that within a block of given length - > T and K , , < K IK2, -+ Shadowed State 2
at least one bit is in error. The average block error prob- m,
ability at the output of the demodulator for an M-state
Markov channel model is given by
M
Phlr (19)
> T and K J p,,, < K
pbl = wi 0.i
r=l - IKJ, -+ Shadowed State J
ms
where Pb,; is the block error probability in state i.
5) Store the classification data, i.e., channel state
A . Estimation of M-State Markov Channel Model records.
Parameters Combine frames which belong to the same channel
In order to estimate model parameters from experimen- state into M separate signals.
tal data, the following sequence of signal processing is Compute LF and HF components for each of M above
conducted. signals by repeating steps 2 and 3 .
~

1216 IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS, VOL. IO, NO. 8. OCTOBER 1992

Compute the mean values m, and md and standard TABLE 11

deviations U, and Ud for L F and H F signals in each state.
Compute the state probabilities P(i)(i = 1, 2,
* -
, M ) and state transition probabilities P G ( i , j = 1, 2, 1 0.944 0.956 0.097 -9.14 . 1.395
* -
, M ) as follows: 2
3
0.978
0.655
0.912
0.273
0.063
0.194
-3.15 .
-0.063
4.930
22.758
P ( i ) = Ni/Nf 4 0.474 0.201 0.205 0. I32 37.204

where Ni is the number of frames in state i, and Nf is the

total number of frames

where NG is the number of transitions from state i to j .

The method of estimating the mean value of the slow fad-
ing component by lowpass filtering is originally proposed
by Clarke [22] and used by others [23].

B. Example
The proposed channel model is applied to an experi-
mental data file recorded in the Australian land mobile - 4 I 6 I I 9 IQ I1 12
EblNo (dB)
satellite propagation experiment [8]. The experiment was
Fig. 11. BER performance of the QPSK modulation for states 1-4 in a
conducted over the Japanese ETS-V satellite. This partic- four-state Markov chain model for a land mobile satellite channel. Dash:
ular run was measured between Sydney and Coolongatta, Simulation. Solid: Experiment.
Queensland, over a distance of 110.4 km with varying
vehicle speed and environment conditions ranging from
urban to rural. The speed of the van varied between 50
and 100 km/h. The left-hand circularly polarized un-
modulated carrier at 1545.15 MHz was received at ele-
vation angles ranging from 5 1O to 56". The low gain om-
nidirectional antennas with 4 dB gain were utilized.
The channel is modeled by four states. The two first
states are represented by Rician fading with the ratios of
direct to diffuse signal component powers K l = 14 dB and
K2 = 18 dB, respectively. The third and fourth states are
modeled by a linear combination of the Rayleigh and log-
normal fading. The channel parameters are given in Table 6 I IO I2
Eb/No (dB)
11.
Fig. 12. Total BER performance of a QPSK modulation for a land mobile
It is observed experimentally that the variations of the satellite channel. Dash: Experiment. Solid: Simulation.
log-normal component are two orders of magnitude slower
than the Rayleigh component. The bandwidth of the Ray-
leigh component in this particular run is 100 Hz while the sponding curves for the average BER for the four-state
bandwidth of the log-normal component is 3 Hz. This fact model are shown in Fig. 12. The results for block error
allowed separation of the low and high frequency signals rates (BLER) are depicted in Figs. 13 and 14.
and computation of the mean values and variances for log- The distribution of state durations is another statistic
normal and Rayleigh signal components. that is useful in estimation of system availability and per-
The matrix of the state probabilities is formance of error control schemes. Severe fades tend to
[w] = [0.169, 0.461, 0.312, 0.0581. obscure the received information and no available error
control scheme can significantly improve the system per-
The transition probabilities for the experimental channel formance in these states. The periods of poor system per-
are formance are referred to as outages. On the other hand,
error control schemes can provide essentially error-free
r0.679 0.179 0.129 0 . 0 1 3 1 communication in good performance states. An outage
0.052 0.925 0.023 O.OO0 terminates a good performance interval. In this example,
"I =
0.104 0.007 0.750 0.139
the outage intervals correspond to states 3 and 4 while the
good performance intervals occur during states 1 and 2.
LO.OO0 O.OO0 0.778 0 . 2 2 2 d In the M-state Markov chain model, the probability of in-
terval distribution is exponential. The experimental and
The BER curves, in particular states for experimental and simulated interval probability distributions for states 1-4,
simulated data, are shown in Fig. 11, while the corre- are shown in Figs. 15-18, respectively. Application of
 .
VUCETIC AND DU: CHANNEL MODELING AND SIMULATION 1217

"l

a
U
d
e;

'4 J 6 7 I 9 10 LI 12

Eb/No ( d B ) 0 8 16 24 32 10
STATE DURATION (SEC)
Fig. 13. BLER performance of the QPSK modulation for states 1-4 in a
four-state Markov chain model for a land mobile satellite channel. Dash: Fig. 17. Empirical and simulated state duration pdf's-State 3. Dash:
Simulation. Solid: Experiment. Simulation. Solid: Experiment.

I, 6 i IO 12
Eb/No ( d B ) 16 ?A
. 31 1 I* 56 64
STAlE DURATION (SEC)
Fig. 14. Total BLER performance of a QPSK modulation for a land mo-
bile satellite channel. Dash: Experiment. Solid: Simulation. Fig. 18. Empirical and simulated state duration pdf's-State 4. Dash:
Simulation. Solid: Experiment.

the model results in a good approximation of interval dis-

tribution observed on a land mobile link.
In order to test second-order channel model character-
istics, we computed the fade duration distribution and the
d level crossing rate for both simulated and experimental
d data. In computing fade duration distribution, we set
a threshold levels for fades at 4,7, and 10 dB.
The level crossing rate L C R ( X ) is defined as [6]

0 IO m )(I U) I m
STATEDURATlON ( S E 0
where X is the threshold level under consideration, P + ( X )
Fig. 15. Empirical and simulated state duration pdf's-State 1. Dash:
Simulation. Solid: Experiment. is the number of positive crossings for level X, and N is
the total number of positive crossings for all levels.
The cumulative fade duration distributions for an open
and suburban area are shown in Fig. 19 for both experi-
mental and simulated data, while the level crossing rates
for an open area are illustrated in Fig. 20.

V . CONCLUSIONS
We have developed a new analytical and simulation an-
alog channel model for land mobile satellite communi-
J cation systems. The model describes signal amplitude and
phase variations. A linear combination of log-normal,
I Rayleigh, and Rice models is used to describe signal
O a m la0 160 100
STA'IB DURATlON ( S W
variations over areas with constant environmental attri-
Fig. 16. Empirical and simulated state duration pdf's-State 2. Dash: butes, whereas an M-state Markov chain is applied to rep-
Simulation. Solid: Experiment. resent environmental parameter variations.
1218 IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS, VOL. IO, NO. 8. OCTOBER 1992

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Dash : Simulation- agation for satellite to land mobile communication at UHF,” in Proc.
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Technol. Conf., Orlando, FL, May 1990, pp. 610-615.

A methodology to estimate channel parameters from

experimental measurements has been developed. The
model is directly applicable to a wide variety of coding,
modulation, and signal processing techniques. The pri-
mary restrictions on the application of the model are: 1)
the fade rate is at least one order of magnitude less than
the symbol rate, and 2) the signal bandwidth is small
enough that a nonfrequency selective fading assumption
is appropriate.
As an example, the QPSK modulation scheme has been
analyzed by the proposed model. Results presented in the
form of signal waveforms, envelope probability density
functions, and average bit and block error rates show close
agreement with measurements.
REFERENCES
[I] M. H. Khan and G. M. Dalleave, “Performance of channel coding
in various mobile radio environment,” in Proc. 12th Symp. Inform.
Theory and Its Appl., Inuyama, Japan, Dec. 6-9, 1989, pp. 359-364.
[2] M. Rahman and M. Bulmer, “Error models for land mobile satellite
channels,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Satel. Mobile Commun., Adelaide,
Australia, Aug. 1990.
Branka Vucetic received the Ph.D. degree in
electrical engineering from the University of Bel-
grade in 1982.
She is currently employed as an Associate Pro-
fessor at the University of Sydney, Sydney, Aus-
tralia. Her present research is related to the sim-
ulation and analysis of communication systems
and error,control.
Jun Du (S’86-M’89) received the B.E. degree in
communication engineering from the Harbin In-
stitute of Technology, Harbin, China, in 1982 and
the D.E. degree in communication engineering
from Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
In 1989, he spent two years at Sydney Univer-
sity, Australia, on mobile satellite communica-
tions. In 1990, he joined the Australian and Over-
seas Telecommunication Corporation (AOTC)
where he has been working on ISDN applications
research and development. His research interests
are error control coding, channel modeling and simulation, and narrowband
ISDN.