Published in IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BROADCASTING, VOL. 43 NO. 2

Study of the Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) Radio Channel

June 1997

Peter Papazian, George Hufford, Robert Achatz, Randy Hoffman

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Abstract: This paper summarizes radiowave propagation impairments for local multipoint distribution services (LMDS) and reports measurement data for small cells. Results include area coverage estimates over a range of basic transmission losses for 0.5-, 1.0- and 2.0- km suburban cells with foliated trees. Multipath, signal attenuation, depolarization, and cell to cell coverage also are discussed. Data indicates a high probability of non-line-of-sight paths due to trees which can cause signal attenuation and signal variability when wind is present. Signal variability was studied using k factors and compared to the Rician cumulative distribution function. Depolarization caused by vegetation and other signal scatterers was found to be an order of magnitude greater than rain-induced depolarization. A simple tapped delay line model is presented to describe multipath for three channel states.

Keywords: LMDS; radiowave propagation; millimeter-wave; attenuation; multipath; basic transmission loss; depolarization; area coverage; propagation models; time variability; broadcasting; availability; Nakagami-Rice

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