CHAPTER 2 - TH EOR ETICAL A S P E C TS O F MICROWAVE PROPAGATION

AND PHYSICS OF TH E MEDIUM

t2.1l INTRODUCTION :
Microwave propagation characters are largely affected by
tropospheric variabilities and terrain features (Crawford,
et.al. i952> Clifford et.al i970 Boithias i979, Inoum* et.al.
i97£f, Dougherty and Hartt97) . To understand the mechanisms of
mode of propagation of radio waves in this medium and also to
realise the dynamical response of the system towards microwave
signal, it is necessary to have an indepth theoretical
background in these aspects. This chapter attempts to give a
theoretical review of the state of art of this subject.

[2.21 TROPOSPHERIC PROPAGATION MODEL CTWO RAYS O P TIC -TH EO R Y ):

The troposphere is the region of the earth’s atmosphere
immediatly adjacent to the earth’s surface and extending
upward for some tens of Kilometer. In troposphere, the free
space conditions are modified by two factors.
1. Surface of the earth
2. Atmospheric medium

A simplified propagation model can be conceived by considering

a flat earth surface and that the space wave that reaches the
recevier has two components, the direct wave and the ground
reflected wave as shown in the fig.(2.la). The direct wave
follows the ray path Sd and the ground reflected wave follows
the ray path St. The reflected wave travels a greater distance
than the direct wave and introduces a phase difference. If AS
be the path difference, then the phase angle corresponding to
AS is given by.

4>a = 2n/X. * AS ................... (2.1)

14
 F ig.C2.1a ) : A Model Dia g r a m F or T r o po sph er ic Pr o p a g a t io n
Ra v P a t h

F ig .(2.1b ) : T he F ield S tr en g th Ph a s o r Dia g r a m A t T he Receiver

15
VS is expressed in terms of transmitting /receiving antenna
heights as
AS - 2ht h r7 d .... .... ... (2.2)

Where ht is the height of the transmiting antenna .

hr is the height of the receving antenna.
d is the distance between the transmitter and the
receiver.
Therefore, the phase angle, in terms of antenna height a nd

distance is given by.

Pa = 4rchthj,/ d .......................(2.3)

This is not the only phase change that might take place in
this process. The reflection at the earth’s surface also
affects the amplitude and phase of the reflected wave. The
nature of reflection depends in a complicated way on the
constitution of the reflecting surface, angle of incidence
and on the polarisation of the wave.

Let the electric field coefficient at the point of reflection

be represented by r = It ! p, where p is the phase of the
reflected wave. The amplitude of the reflected wave at
receiving point will then be |r| Ed> where Ed is the amplitude
of the direct wave. The phase of the reflected wave relative
to the direct wave is (p -'Pa'1' Phaser diagram for the field
strength at the receiving point is shown in fig. (2. lb). T.ne
phase angle & is equal to [150^- {p-p-)l, The cosine rule is
applied to receive resultant field strength ER .

/ i ,2 , ,
/ 1 + It | + 2 |r j cos !p - p.-) .... i2.4)

For a wide range of terrain conditions it is found that

reflection coefficient t is equal to -1. For this condition
the equation (2.4) reduces to.

16
After expanding this equation and putting the value of from
equation (2.3), we get

E h = <2E0 / d!* Sin(2rr hT hR /X d).... .... (2.5)

The approximate form of equation (2.5) is.

2
ER " E q <4n h T h R / > (2 . 6 )

This equation shows the importance of antenna height towards

resultant field strengths at the receiving ends.

[ 23] RADIO CLIMATOLOGY :

The radio refractive index is one of the fundamental
parameters for establishing any theory on radio wave
propagation through the near earth atmosphere C Boon ana
Dutton, iQ&Sj. The atmosphere causes a downward curvature or
the horizontally launched radio wave and in normal atmospheric
conditions, this curvature is nearly 1/4 of the earth's
curvature. But under unusual meteorological conditions, radio
energy may be confined to the layers near the earth’s surface.
In addition to this, as the atmosphere is always embeded with
some sort of turbulences, a part of radio energy is scattered
out of normal antenna lobe CTcttarski 19617.

For derivation of the R R 1, D e by e ’s treatment on the effect or

an impressed electric field upon the dielectric constant of

both nonpolar and polar molecules is to be considered first.

The polarisation P of the polar fluid molucules under the

influence of high frequency radio field is given by cMitna
i9757.

P (.10) c <" T j
r~4

3 1 + i10T /

17
where s = dielectric constant.
M = molecular weight.
p = density of the fluid.
Nn = Avogadro’s number.
<n0 = the average p o 1 arisabi 1 ity of the molecules in th
liquid assuming no interaction between the m o l e c u l e s

p = permanent dipole moment.

t = relaxation time required for the o r i e n t s

molecules to return to random distribution after

the removal of external field,
for / <100 GHz <i>t <<1 , £ land
CM It -

—9 1CO
Ilf

lT J
3.1

I
K5
ICO
CO

H
£■ - 1 =(K14 Pa/T) + (K21 * e/T * (A +B)/ T) + <K12 Pc ■'T
..................................( 2. 8 )

Where A & B are constants and P is the atmospheric pressure.

The refractive index n is given by

1/2
n = (fj'e) Where p' is the permibility of the medium - 1

l/:
n = { l + ( u ’ t - l ) }

n - 1 =( p ’ &- 1 )/2 (2.9)

The term radio refractive index ( R R I ) is then defined as

N = (n 1! 10b = Kj Pd / T + K2 e /T + K3 e / T2 + F,.
..... (2.10!
Where e = water vapour pressure

Kt = 77.G07 - 0.13 °K/m bar

K2 = 71.6 +8.5°K/ m bar
K' = (3.747 +0.031) 105 ( °K)2 /m bar

18
N = 77.6 Pd/ T + 72 e/ T +( 3.75) 105e/ T2

N = 77.6 P/T - 5.6 e/T + 3.75 * 105 (e / T2 )

where Pd = P-e

N = 77.6/T (P + 4810 e/ T ) .... ....... .... <

N = 77.6 P /T + 3.73 * 105 ( e/T2 ) ......(2.12)

This equation shows the significant control of water

vapour pressure towards the variation of RRI values.

t 2 .4] BENDING O F RADIO WAVE :

The relation between the radius of curvature of the ray path
and change of refractive index with height can be derived as
follows. Let p be the radius of curvature of the radio path
and v the velocity of propagation at a height H above the
earth surface. Then from the figure (2 2), we have

p ti& =v dt
60/tit - v/p
v =1/ U r£vuv >A-"'2= k4 £-r-1'-'2 .. ........ (2.13)

At a height H+dH = H +dp, the velocity

(v + d v ) =(p+dH) d&/ dt

Therefore dv/dH = d£/dt = v/p

p = v/dv .. ........ (2. 14 )
dH

Now from equation n o . (2.13) and (2.14) we have

p = 2/dtj, ...... ......

dH

19
 v-kdv

Fig.(2.2) : Geomatry For A Spherical Earth.

Fig.(2.3 a,b) : Simplified Model Of Effective Earth Radius.

20
Thus the radius of curvature of a path is a function of rate
of change of dielectric constant. This parameter suffers
almost continuous change with height, time, day and of
course with seasons. However, in practice an average value of
p is assumed to be four times the earth’s radius for the
purpose of gross estimation of LOS horizon {Jordan and
B a I ffia i n 19903 .

In working with propagation problems, it is often convenient

to consider the ray path as straight lines instead of being
curved as they actually are and then to compensate for the
curvature by using a large value of the effective radius of
the earth which depends on the variation patterns of the RRI .
To establish this relation, let us consider figs. (2.3 a,b ). In
fig.(a) the actual ray path is shown above an earth of radius a
and fig.(b) shows the equivalent straight line path of the
same. In order for the straight line path of fig.(2.3bi to
be the equivalent of that shown in fig.(2.3a), it is necessary
that a change in height dH be the same in the two cases for
the same horizontal D. Now from the fig (2.3b) we have.

dH =B0 - AO = (K a +H) {1/(cos9a )- 1>

For small angles
l/cos«s=l + e?^2/2
dH = ( K a Where H is small compared to K a
But = sint?* =D /(K a + H) = D/K a
Therefore dH = D2/2 K a ..... ..... (2.16'
On the other hand in fig 2.3b
dH = D2/2 a-D2/2 p ..... ..... (2.17:
After solving the equation no (2.16) and (2.17), we get
K = l/(l-a_.,p) ..... ..... (2.18)

For a radius of curvature p equal to four times the radius a

of the earth, the effective radius of earth is A/3 times the
actual radius. By using this effective radius, curvature of
the earth’s surface is taken care of by a straight path.

21
[2 .5 1 MULTIPATH FADING :
Under normal atmospheric conditions only one propagation path
exists between the two antenna on a well designed line of
sight path. However, changes or variations in the refractive
index structure of the medium may cause multipath propagation
and in such a situation the received signal is resultant
of the direct and the reflected components from different
layered structures. Each signal component follows its own
propagation path and the signal thus generally arrives at the
receiving antenna with different amplitudes and phase. c'Mon
&t . a. l . 10&Q,J or possibly by scattering from inhomogen it ies
Celtfford and Strofcbehn 10700, Fadings due to the
reflection / refraction from atmospheric layers are
generally known as multipath fading.

The diurnal and seasonal variations of multipath propagation

are closely related to the occurrence of the meteorological
conditions causing multipath propagation. The statistical
distribution of the signal received under multipath
propagation can be separated into a statistical distribution
function characterising the propagation phenomeinon and the
probability of occurrence of such events. Various experimental
methods and theoretical relations for an estimation of
occurrence probability of multipath fading have been proposed
C'Morl La. 1370,107$, Ekxrn&t 107$, Bhoauquisi arid Norbur-y I y7o',
e tc .j .

A general relation for estimating the probability of

fading is given by

F (R < Li = K Q f® dc Fr,x L 2 ...... ...... (2.19 s

Where P - Probability of occurrence
L - Amplitudes in linear measure
K - Factor for climatic conditions

o otL -i
Fig.(2.40 : Sample Record Of T he Mu ltipa th T ype Of F ading .

23
£} - Factor for terrain conditions
f - Frequency in GHz
d - Path length in Km
Fn - Path clearance factor
B,C,X, - Constants

Multipath fading may occur due to interference between direct

wave and different wave components like,

1. Specular component of ground reflected wave .

2. Non specular component of ground reflected wave .
3. Partial reflection from atmospheric sheet or elevated layers.
4. Additional direct (non reflected) wave.

These additional wave paths occur either due to surface layers

of strong positive refractive index gradient or to
horizontally distributed changes of RRI . The fadings that are
developed because of these multipath phenomena can be quite
severe, depending upon the effective reflection cofficients or
on relative amplitudes of the component waves. The
interference of the direct wave with those of specular and
partial reflectd waves from layers, generates fadings that may
last for couple of minutes. During such fades, the non
specular ground reflected component can cause additional
interference resulting even deeper and rapid fades with
duration of order of seconds. A sample record of the
multipath fading is presented in fig. (2.4). Fadings result
from multipath reflection can be avoided at the receving site
by adopting frequency or space diversity system.

[2 .6 ] GENERALISED THEORY OF SCATTERING OF RADIO WAVE FROM

REGULAR AND IRREGULAR TIME VARYING REFRACTIVE INDEX STRUCTURE
When a radiowave propagates through non ionized
medium, it is distored by a number of mechanisms C£tx-obh~ffi
19620. The distortion can be characterised into three
groups.

24
1. Absorption : This causes direct attenuation of the wave.
2. Refraction : Here a general bending of the wave is caused
by the change of mean value of the dielectric constant
with height.
3. Random scattering : Here scattering occur due to random
fluctuation in the dielectric constant, which causes variation
in the amplitude, phase, angle of arrival and polarisation
of the wave.

To analyse problems on scattering of radio waves from regular

and irregular surfaces the following theoretical approaches
are generally adopted. These are,

1. Theories based on turbulences (Booh&r & Gordon i960)

2. Mode theories ( Eullinostion )
3. Reflection theory ( Firis. Crawford., Hogg 1957)

Each theory gives agreement as well as deviations with

experimental observations. An unified treatment of scatter
problems has also been received (Gjossing 1968). It is not
necessary to treat the scattering problem separately for
turbulent irregularities and for reflection from layers. The
treatment given by Gjossing C 19689 in terms of three dimensions
spectra can be discussed in this case and can be illustrated
by fig. (2.6). Here dV is an elemental volume inside a
scattering structure. If K0 = Wave number of the incident
field
Ka = Wave number of the scattered field
Then K0 = Ka = 2f ] /'K

K = K0- Ka

K = (4rr / M S i n 8/2 ............ ............ ( 2 . 2 0 )

Where & = Angle between K0 and Ka
K = position vector of the scattering volume .

25
F ig .C2.5) : F u n d a m e n t a l G e o m a t r y O e S c a t t e r e d F ie l d .

26
The scattered field is then given by

E_M = K.^ /4 jt R /E.-U. f( rt ) e ''*<r d^ r.... ....(2.21)

Where E0 is the magnitude of electric field and f(r,t) is the

space time function of the normalised permittivity. The angular
spectrum of scattered field strength is the Fourier Transform
of the product E(r), and f^(r).

The angular power spectrum of the scattered wave is the

product of Ea and its complex conjugate, giving the scattering
cross section by the following expression.

(S) = (rr K4 /2 ) <p (K) ..... ...... (2. 22!

Where 4* (K ) is the spatial power spectrum of the refractive

index field such that <p (k) is the Fourier Transform of the
spatial autocorrelation. Here the incident wave is a plane one
and the linear extension of the scattering volume V1"'3 is very
small compared to the distance between the transmitter and the
scattering volume.

The scattering cross-section is defined above as the power

density of the scattered wave in the direction of Ka (per unit
solid angle per unit scattering volume per unit power density
of the incident wave on the scattering volume). Thus,
scattering cross- section varies as fourth power of the
difference between incident and scattered wave number besides
being a function of the spatial power spectrum of the
refractive index field. It also varies with the different,
turbulent conditions. In the following sections the
expression is deduced for turbulent, streamline and layers
reflected conditions etc.

27
€13 Scattering From Turbulence : The tropospheric
irregularities to a large extent are contributed by the
variations in the radio refractive index, so it is essential
to discuss the fluctutions in the troposphere in terms
of RRI spectra. In the K range corresponding to the inertial
subrange for the refractive index spectrum, the scattering
crossection takes the form

_ 1 / ^ - 1 1 / ^

= .03 Cn1
2 X (sina/2) ----------(2.23)

Where Cn2is the Tatarski structure function,

2
“ _ o / -a
= 5.3 <* £) 1 ^ °
2
{&£) is the standard deviation of permittivity fluctuations

and & is the scattering angle.

C2) Scattering From Single Layer : Let us consider a layer

where refractive index varies according to a function (say)
fi(h) with height. The scattering cross section can than be
written as

= f] k2/2 K f£ ih) e~jkh dh |2 --------------(2.24)

C33 Scattering From Turbulent Layers - Let us consider a

medium where the turbulence is confined to one or more layers
of limited vertical extent .In such layers we may expect that
the mean temperature and humidity (and hence refractivity) to
vary differently at the two layers. In such a situation, the
refractivity profile will consist of two parts.

1. A gradient layer of normal refractivity gradient (dN/dH =

-40N ).
2. Random fluctuations superimposed on this mean profile,
caused by the turbulence. The resultant scattering
cross-section.

28
 —.— _ 2 ^ -1/3, . A .11/3 j.2 I- .. . ~ jkh ,, ,2
.03 Cn X (sin&/2) + n K /2 |f^(h) e dh |
------- (2.25)

[ 2.71 SYSTEM GAIN AND THE RELIABILITY :

System gain is a useful measure of performance of a
communication set up, because it incorporates many parameters
of interest to the system designers of the microwave system.
In its simplest form, it is the difference between the
transmitted output power and the receiver threshold
sensitivity for a given signal. The receiver gain must be
greater than or at least equal to the sum of gains and losses
in the equipment. Mathematically, this can be expressed by the
following equation known as a Barnett-Vigants reliability
equation CFeH&r,iQQt5

G a = P t " C min - F m + L p + L f+ Lb~ G t“ G r..... ..... (2 . 2 6 )

Where Gfl is the gain of the system.

Pt is the transmitter output power.
Cmin is the recover threshold value.
Lp =92.4 +20 log d +20 log f, is the free space loss ...(2.27)
Lf is the feeder loss.
Lb is the branching loss (in the protected system ).
Gt Grare gain of transmitter, receiver antenna
respectively over isotropic radiators.
Fm is the fade margin of a non diversity communication system.

Fade Margin Requirment For A Specified System Relibilty :

The Barnett-Vignant reliability equation mentioned in the
previous section may be applied to determine maximum
allowable fade margin for a communication system after
receiving the worst month information over that link. This
fade margin can be calculated from equation (2.26) in the form
of the following equation.

29
Fr„ = 30 iogd +10 log (6 A B f) - 10 log (1-R1-70-----(2.28)

Where (1-R) is the reliability factor for a 400 km route.

A, is the roughness factor of the terrain,and is equal to 4

for very smooth terrain including over water.

1, for terrain with some average roughness and is equal to 1 ' A

for mountainous /very rough terrains.

B is the factor to convert worst month probability to annual

probability, which is 1/2 for very humid area, 1/4 for average
inland area and 1/8 for or very dry areas.

This fade margin is available on an annual basis. The value

for worst month period can be received by putting B = 1. In

case of a highly reliable system (without diversity) with

99.99% service reliability per hop, the fade margin needed
will be.

Fm = 30 log d + 10 log (6 A f ) - 30 dB---------- (2.29)

Where f is the operating frequency.

It is to be noted that a 10 dB increase in fade margin gives

an order of magnitude improvement in relibility.

Now from equation (2.26) and (2.29) the required system gain
can be calculated as

Ga = 50 log d +30 log f + 10 log (6 A) +62.4 +Lf + Lb -Gt - Gr

............ (2.30 )

From this equation it is obvious that the system gain is to be

increased with the increase of path length. For an unproteote

30
carrier system a 5dB increase in the system gain allows 25 %
longer hop with the same relibility.

C2.81 AMPLITUDE DISTRIBUTION :

From the analysis of large number of fade data the genera!
observation is that the probability of occurrence of deep
fading > (10 dB ) is low compared to shallow fades (Kamilo
F*h&r i981j and this probability decreases with the increase
of signal attenuation. The cumulative amplitude distribution
of most non diversity fading signal in the deep fade region
can be represented by a straight line with a inverse slope of
10 dB/decade of probability. This typical distribution can be
defined by the equation c Lin 1Q71J,

P (V < L ) = £ ..... ..... (2.31)

Where V is the enevelop voltage of the random fading signal
normalised to its non faded signal level, L is any specified
signal level and £ is the multipath occurrence factor
depending upon the fading environment.

However, there are some exceptional cases detected over

water rad io links where the fad e depths are generally
observed to be strong and in these type of cases the
probability occurrence of fades P (VI L) decreases very slowly
and is characterised by a inverse slope of 20 dB/decade of
probability. On the other hand, in certain radio links like tor
very short distances, the probability of fade occurrence
decreases very rapidly with L and is characterised by an
inverse slope of 5 dB/decade of probability.

The R ay leigh P ro b ab ility D ensity Function -

The propagation of the radio signals through a medium can be

described by an Rayleigh probability density function if the
signal undergoes multipath fadings. If a radio carrier is
incident on the medium and this medium produces scattered

31
beams then the transmitted constant amplitude signal is
converted into a randomly varying signal. The probability
density function of this envelope is described by Rayleigh
density and is defined by the following expression.

_ ( , . 2 / 0 --*2 }

P (v ) = v/ot2 e ( q< v < } ------------------ (2.31)

= 0 , (v < 0)
Where v is the amplitude.

So by examining the Rayleigh density function one can assume

the mechanism responsible for the generation of fades. The
average mean value of the Rayleigh density function is given
by

E (v ) = (n/2 )1 "20( ---------------------- (2. 34)

Where the rms ac component is 0.655oi

[ 2.9] NUMBER O F F A D E S AND A V ER A G E FA D E DURATION :

The multipath propagation conditions are also characterized by
other aspects of signal variations, for example the fade
durations, the number of fades and rate of change of the
signal level. <1Mo g&nsen. 1Q7Q* 'St&phezris&ri coxd Mog&ris&ri 1979,
Tat t e r s a l l arid ca t- 1utx-i g h l l y ’77, Sctscthi acrid. Afc-iycirtici t yr7 ,
Bar-risr t1 iy 7 cc, Vigam s l Q 7 i , Sul Li rig t o n 1Q71 , Dos st.ol iQQcf

otc. J .

The amplitude distribution of signal P(v< L) give us only the

information as how long a signal will be below a specified
signal level L. However P(v < L) does not tell anything about
the dynamic aspect of the fade character of the signal. For
example, a large number of short fades and a small number or
long fades may have the same amplitude distribution. Some
communication systems may tolerate short fades but not the
long fades. Furthermore, in the design of a diversity system
or in the design of an AGC unit, these dynamical behavior of
fades should be well known.

32
In the study of duration of fades t(L), the experimental data
for the parameters are plotted on a log scale along with
different fade depth levels The distribution can be well
represented by a straight line for fade depth deeper than -10 dB.
The slope of this straight line shows that with the increase
of fade depth, the fade duration does not decrease gradually
but follows a power law.

[2 .1 0 ] CONCLUSION :
This chapter presents the basic theories related to the
physics of the propagating medium associated for with fade
of different types and magnitudes. For this purpose effect of
RRI and the effective earth radius factor at different
environmental situations have been presented. The basic system
parameters such as system gain and reliability with respect to
fade margin are discussed along with possible fade
distribution pattern at different environmental and terrain
s ituat ions.

33