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Signal Propagation Basics
EECS 4215
September 11, 2024

2
Signal Propagation Ranges
• Transmission range
– communication possible
– low error rate
• Detection range
– detection of the signal
possible
– communication
not possible
• Interference range
– signals may not be
detected
– signals add to the
background noise
distance
sender
transmission
detection
interference
Note: These are not perfect
spheres in real life!

3
Signal Propagation
• Propagation in free space is always like light (straight line).
• Receiving power proportional to 1/d² in vacuum – much more in real
environments (d = distance between sender and receiver)
• Receiving power additionally influenced by
– fading (frequency dependent)
– Shadowing (blocking)
– reflection at large obstacles
– refraction depending on the density of a medium
– scattering at small obstacles
– diffraction at edges
reflection scattering diffraction
shadowing refraction

4
Propagation Modes
• Ground-wave (< 2MHz) propagation
• Sky-wave (2 – 30 MHz) propagation
• Line-of-sight (> 30 MHz) propagation

6
Ground Wave Propagation
• Follows the contour of the earth
• Can propagate considerable distances
• Frequencies up to 2 MHz
• Example
– AM radio
– submarine communication (long waves)

8
Sky Wave Propagation
• Signal reflected from ionized layer of
atmosphere back down to earth
• Signal can travel a number of hops,
back and forth between ionosphere and
the earth surface
• Reflection effect caused by refraction
• Examples
– amateur radio
– International broadcasts

10
Line-of-Sight Propagation
• Transmitting and receiving antennas must be within
line of sight
– Satellite communication – signal above 30 MHz
not reflected by ionosphere
– Ground communication – antennas within effective
line of sight due to refraction
• Refraction – bending of microwaves by the
atmosphere
– Velocity of an electromagnetic wave is a function
of the density of the medium
– When wave changes medium, speed changes
– Wave bends at the boundary between mediums
• Mobile phone systems, satellite systems, cordless
phones, etc.

11
Line-of-Sight Equations
• Optical line of sight
• Effective, or radio, line of sight
• d = distance between antenna and horizon
(km)
• h = antenna height (m) (altitude relative to a
receiver at the sea level)
• K = adjustment factor to account for
refraction caused by atmospherics layers;
rule of thumb K = 4/3
h
d 57
.
3

h
d 
 57
.
3

12
Line-of-Sight Equations
• Maximum distance between two
antennas for LOS propagation:
• h1 = height of antenna one
• h2 = height of antenna two
 
2
1
57
.
3 h
h 



13
LOS Wireless Transmission
Impairments
• Attenuation and attenuation distortion
• Free space loss
• Atmospheric absorption
• Multipath (diffraction, reflection,
refraction…)
• Noise
• Thermal noise

14
Attenuation
• Strength of signal falls off with distance over
transmission medium
• Attenuation factors for unguided media:
– Received signal must have sufficient strength so
that circuitry in the receiver can interpret the signal
– Signal must maintain a level sufficiently higher
than noise to be received without error
– Attenuation is greater at higher frequencies,
causing distortion (attenuation distortion)

15
Free Space Path Loss
• Free space path loss, ideal isotropic antenna
• Pt = signal power at transmitting antenna
• Pr = signal power at receiving antenna
•  = carrier wavelength
• d = propagation distance between antennas
• c = speed of light (» 3 ´ 10 8 m/s)
where d and  are in the same units (e.g.,
meters)
   
2
2
2
2
4
4
c
fd
d
P
P
r
t 





16
Free Space Path Loss in dB
• Free space path loss equation can be
recast (decibel version):









d
P
P
L
r
t
dB
4
log
20
log
10
    dB
98
.
21
log
20
log
20 


 d

    dB
56
.
147
log
20
log
20
4
log
20 








 d
f
c
fd


18
Multi-path Propagation
• Signal can take many different paths between sender
and receiver due to reflection, scattering, diffraction
• Time dispersion: signal is dispersed over time
– interference with “neighbor” symbols, Inter Symbol
Interference (ISI)
• The signal reaches a receiver directly and phase
shifted
– distorted signal depending on the phases of the different
parts
signal at sender
signal at receiver
LOS pulses
multipath
pulses

19
Atmospheric Absorption
• Water vapor and oxygen contribute most
• Water vapor: peak attenuation near 22GHz,
low below 15Ghz
• Oxygen: absorption peak near 60GHz, lower
below 30 GHz.
• Rain and fog may scatter (thus attenuate)
radio waves.
• Low frequency band usage helps.

20
Effects of Mobility
• Channel characteristics change over time and
location
– signal paths change
– different delay variations of different signal parts
– different phases of signal parts
–  quick changes in the power received (short term
fading)
• Additional changes in
– distance to sender
– obstacles further away
–  slow changes in the average
power received (long term fading)
short term fading
long term
fading
t
power

21
Fading Channels
• Fading: Time variation of received
signal power
• Mobility makes the problem of modeling
fading difficult
• Multipath propagation is a key reason
• Most challenging technical problem for
mobile communications

22
Types of Fading
• Short term (fast) fading
• Long term (slow) fading
• Flat fading – across all frequencies
• Selective fading – only in some frequencies
• Rayleigh fading – no LOS path, many other
paths
• Rician fading – LOS path plus many other
paths

23
Dealing with Fading Channels
• Error correction
• Adaptive equalization
– attempts to increase signal power as needed
– can be done with analog circuits or DSP
(digital signal processor)

Reading
• Mobile Communications (Jochen
Schiller), section 2.4
• Stallings, chapter 3
24

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