Measurements and models of a land mobile satellite channel and their applications to MSK signals

Abstract

The fading and shadowing effects observed on land mobile satellite signals are characterized in statistical terms. Models are developed in terms of probability distribution of the signal's envelope and phase as well as its rate of change with time. The multipath fading and shadowing effects modelled are typical of those encountered in a mobile-satellite link in rural and suburban areas. A comparison of the models with experimental data at 870 MHz and 1542 MHz is given. Applications of the models to predict performance of a minimum shift keying (MSK) signal at 2400 bits/s show that large margins are required to compensate for the effects of fading and shadowing. In addition, the results show that conventional coherent demodulation of a MSK signal may not be feasible due to phase variation caused by fading and shadowing. On the other hand, the results show that random FM has negligible effect on the probability of error of the MSK signal at 2400 bits/s when frequency demodulation is used.