RMS Delay Spread, Excess Delay Spread, and Multipath (MPCs)
The fundamental distinction between wireless and wired connections is that in wireless connections signal reaches at receiver thru multipath signal propagation rather than directed transmission like co-axial cable. Wireless Communication has no set communication path between the transmitter and the receiver. The line of sight path, also known as the LOS path, is the shortest and most direct communication link between TX and RX. The other communication pathways are called non-line of sight (NLOS) paths. Reflection and refraction of transmitted signals with building walls, foliage, and other objects create NLOS paths. [ Read More about LOS and NLOS Paths]
Multipath Components or MPCs:
The linear nature of the multipath component signals is evident. This signifies that one multipath component signal is a scalar multiple of another.
Let me give you an example to help you understand. Let's assume we're sending an impulse signal from the transmitter. The single impulse response is transmitted to the receiver via LOS and NLOS pathways. The signal is only transmitted via NLOS paths if a LOS path is unavailable. The probability of LOS Communication decreases as the density of the region increases. Because there are numerous obstacles between the transmitter and the receiver, such as buildings, etc.
Excess Delay Spread:
Excess delay spread is the arrival time difference between the first and final multipath components (MPCs) at the receiver side. For example, suppose the first multipath component arrives at the receiver at time t1, and the last multipath component arrives at time t2. The Excess Delay Spread will then be (t2 -t1).
Power Delay Profile:
The Power Delay Profile shows how received power changes with time dispersion or time delay caused by multipath in a wireless communication channel.
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RMS Delay Spread:
The RMS Delay Spread is the power delay profile's second central momentum. We all know that we get multipath components at the receiver end of the wireless communication process. As a result, to obtain the necessary data, we must use stronger multipath and then add them. Then we divide the total value by the total weights. In the case of the power delay profile computation, power decreases exponentially with time.
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Why is there significant multipath in the case of very high frequencies?
The signal traversal path is shorter at higher frequencies than at lower frequencies. As a result, cellular network coverage is limited in those situations. And there is little of a LOS component in a city or urban scenario. There are NLOS communication pathways available. When the frequency is very high. However, only a few more robust NLOS components reach the receiver. The rest of the NLOS components are lost in a congested metropolitan area due to repeated reflection and diffraction. Because path loss is directly proportional to the carrier frequency of the operational signal, higher frequencies experience more path loss.
Why RMS Delay Spread is essential for wireless Communication:
In today's wireless Communication, RMS delay spread is a critical characteristic. It depends on an area's physical constructions, like buildings, foliage, etc. There will be linear multipath components, or MPCs, whenever we transmit a signal in a wireless setting. We will receive many copies of the same single-sent impulse response. As a result, it takes some time for all MPCs of the transmitted impulse response to reach the receiver. If we broadcast the following signal immediately after the first, the MPCs of the first symbol cause interference on the receiving side. Because the receiver receives the next symbol and the MPCs of the first symbol. Inter-symbol interferences, or ISI, are the result of this. We broadcast signals at intervals ten times greater than the RMS delay spread to eliminate interference.
Why the Power Delay profile is essential:
The Power Delay Profile shows how received power varies with the time dispersion of MPCs. Only a few MPCs contain practically all abilities for high frequency. Only a few MPCs often carry nearly 80-85% of total energy for higher frequencies.
Now, we are continuously moving to higher frequency bands. You know these bands experience more reflection, scattering, etc. That results in more multipath. And multipath causes fading. And the type of fading tells us whether it is flat fading or frequency selective fading. Different multipaths reaches the receiver at different time. Higher frequency bands experience more Doppler spread as compared to lower frequency bands. You know 5G wireless technology is operating at millimeter wave band, so the Doppler effect will be huge. So, currently, researchers are focusing on the delay-doppler domain to mitigate the effect of Doppler delay spread.
MATLAB Code for calculating different types of delay spread
Output
Mean Delay Spread: 1.96 ns
RMS Delay Spread: 1.43 ns
Maximum Excess Delay: 4.00 ns
Also Read:
[1] Read more about RMS Delay Spread
[2] More about Channel Input Response (CIR)
[3] Difference between AWGN and Rayleigh Fading
[4] Saleh Valenzuela Channel Model for high frequencies communication
[5] Impact of Rayleigh Fading and AWGN on Digital Communication Systems
