Evaluation and verification of the VHF/UHF propagation channel based on a 3-D-wave propagation model

This paper is intended to increase and improve the knowledge concerning the characterization of digital VHF/UHF communication channels. This characterization of the propagation channel is based on the field strength-delay-spectrum (FDS) of the three-dimensional (3-D) multipath wave propagation. A statistical superposition of the predicted multipath signals yields the probability density function of the narrowband signal and the averaged channel impulse response of the wideband propagation channel. Thereof, the relevant parameters, e.g., standard deviations, mean values, delay spread, and correlation coefficients, are derived both in time and frequency domain. The angles-of-arrival of the multipath signals are used to calculate the Doppler spectra of moving receivers for the characterization the time-variant properties of the propagation channel. In total, a rather complete summary of derivations, algorithms and characteristics of the VHF/UHF propagation channel is presented. Narrowband and wideband measurements are included for verification.