EENG587: Lecture 3 – Path Loss,

Shadowing, Link Budget, Noise

and Interference
Dr. Achraf Mallat

Lebanese International University (LIU), Tripoli

Outline
• Simplified Path-Loss Model
• Shadow Fading
• Combined Path Loss and Shadowing
 Outage Probability
 Cell Coverage Area
• Link Budget
 Received Power
 Signal-to-Noise Ratio
 Signal-to-Interference Ratio

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 2

Simplified Path-Loss Model
• Linear:

• dB:

 Gives an average value of the path loss (the actual value is 50% of time larger
and 50% lower)
 Accurate models are too complex, difficult and/or impossible to obtain
 Good for general trade-off analysis / system design
Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 3
Simplified Path-Loss Model
 Simplified Path-Loss (SPL) assumes
a path-loss exponent  higher than
2 (typical value:  = 4) above d0 ( =
2 in free-space path loss, FSPL)
 : obtained from measurement by
optimization (minimum mean-
square error, MMSE)
 K: gain at d0 obtained from FSPL
(antenna gains Gt and Gr not taken
into account), or from measurement

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 4

Simplified Path-Loss Model
 d0: antenna far-field distance (1–10 m indoors and 10–100 m outdoors) (the
field around the antenna is sensitive to, and reacts to, electromagnetic
absorption in this region)
Rayleigh region Fraunhofer region

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 5

Simplified Path-Loss Model

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 6

Simplified Path-Loss Model
• SPL: Mmodel(d) = Pr dBm – Pt dBm = K dB – 10.γ.log10(d/d0)
• Measurement: Mmeasured(d) = Pr dBm – Pt dBm (the answer is in dB):
given
• Total square-error to minimize w.r.t. γ:
• Find K dB:
• F(γ):

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 7

Simplified Path-Loss Model
• To minimize F(γ), we differentiate it relative to γ, and equate it to
zero:

• At 150 m:

 Clearly the measurements deviate from the simplified path-loss model; this
variation can be attributed to shadow fading

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 8

Shadow Fading
• Linear path-loss: ψ = Pt/Pr
• dB path-loss: ψdB = 10 log10 ψ
• Ψ is log-normal distributed  ψdB is normally / Gaussian distributed

• The dB mean µψdB is obtained from SPL: µψdB = Mmodel(d)

• The dB standard deviation σψdB (and variance σψdB2) is obtained from
measurement

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 9

Shadow Fading

• The variance is the average square error:

σψdB2 = F(γ) / (number of measurement)
 Number of measurement = 5

 γ = 3.71
• σψdB2 = 13.29  σψdB = 3.65 dB

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 10

Combined Path Loss and Shadowing
• dB path-gain:

• SPL gain minus zero-mean (µψdB = 0) normal shadowing dB path-loss

ψdB (the standard deviation σψdB is the same)

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 11

Outage Probability
• Outage = service not available = voice quality is too poor to
understand
• Outage Probability Pout(Pmin,d) at distance d: probability that the
received power is less than a minimum required power Pmin
Pout(Pmin,d) = p{Pr(d)<Pmin} = Q[(Pr,SPL(d)-Pmin)/σψdB]
• Q(x) is obtained from tables; if x<0 we use the relation: Q(-x) = 1-Q(x)

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 12

Outage Probability

• Pout(Pmin,d) = p{Pr(d)<Pmin} = Q[(Pr,SPL(d)-Pmin)/σψdB]

 An outage probability of 1% is a typical target in wireless system designs

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 13
Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 14
Cell Coverage Area
• Defined as the expected
(average) percentage of
locations within a cell where
the received power Pr(d) at
these locations is above a
given minimum Pmin

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 15

Cell Coverage Area
• General formula:

• Special case: a=0

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 16

Cell Coverage Area

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 17

Cell Coverage Area

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 18

Cell Coverage Area

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 19

Cell Coverage Area

 For fixed γ, C increases as σψdB decreases,

because a smaller σψdB means less variation
about the mean path-loss.
 For a fixed σψdB , C increases (surprisingly)
as γ increases, because in this special case,
the transmit power must increase with γ in
order to satisfy , so finally C
increases.
Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 20
Link Budget
• An accounting of all of the power gains and losses that a
communication signal experiences in a telecommunication system
 For the computation of the received power
 Noise and interference not taken into account

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 21

Received Power
• Received Power (dBm):
PRx dBm = PTx dBm – LTx + GTx – LSPL(d) – M – LRx + GRx
PRx dBm = EIRP dBm – LSPL(d) – M – LRx + GRx; EIRP = PTx – LTx + GTx
• GTx, GRx (dB): gains of transmit and receive antennas
• LTx, LRx (dB): Transmitter and receiver losses
• LSPL(d) (dB): SPL loss; dbreak (breakpoint) instead of d0, n: instead of 

• M (dB): fading margin (to be in the safe side)

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 22

Antenna Gain Principle

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 23

Antenna Gain Principle 2.15 dB

• Dipole antenna: an omnidirectional that

equally radiates in the horizontal plane only

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 24

Antenna Gain Principle
• Directional antenna: GdB = GdBi + 2.15
• EIRP (Effective Isotropic Radiated Power): how much would we need
to feed an isotropic antenna to obtain the same maximum radiated
power

2.15 dB

GdBi
GdB
Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 25
Received Power

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 26

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 27
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
• Noise and interference sources
 Thermal noise: depends on the environmental temperature T that the
antenna “sees”
 Receiver noise: the receiver electronic components (amplifiers, mixers, etc.)
are noisy, and thus increase the total noise power; this effect is described by
the noise figure F
 Man-made noise: two types:
 Spurious emissions: electrical appliances, radio transmitters designed for other
frequency bands, etc.
 Intentional emission sources: several wireless communications systems operate in
unlicensed bands. In these bands, everybody is allowed to operate

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 28

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 29
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
• For noise-limited systems (noise stronger than interference)
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: SNR (linear) = PRX/(Pn.Feq)
• SNR dB = PRX dBm – (Pn dBm + F dB)
• Pn (linear) = k.T.B: receiver noise (due to the thermal agitation of the
electrons) ; k = 1.38x10-23 J/K: Boltzmann’s constant ; T (K) = T(°C) +
273: temperature in Kelvin; B (in Hz): bandwidth
• Pn dB or dBW = 10.log10(k.T.B)
• At room temperature (T=17°C=290 K): Pn dBm = -174 + 10.log10B
Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 30
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
• F (linear) = SNRin/SNRout: noise figure (or factor) of an electronic
component
• F dB = SNRin dB – SNRout dB  SNRout dB = SNRin dB – F dB; in fact,
each electronic component amplifies the noise so the SNR is reduced
• Total noise figure of a cascade of multiple components (connectors,
amplifiers, cables, mixers, etc.) (Fi and Gi: noise figures and gains in
linear) (a passive component, e.g. connector or cable, of loss L
corresponds to a noise figure F = L and a unit gain G = 1):

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 31

Signal-to-Noise Ratio
• Example 1: a receive antenna is connected to a connector of 3-dB loss
to and amplifier of 10-dB gain and 3-dB noise figure, that is connected
to a cable of 6-dB loss; find the total noise figure in dB
• Example 2: same question with the cable placed before the amplifier

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 32

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 33
Signal-to-Noise Ratio

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 34

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 35
Signal-to-Interference Ratio
• For interference-limited systems: interference from
co-channel cell stronger than the noise (e.g. cellular
systems)
• Signal-to-Interference Ratio:
SIR (linear) = PRx,useful/PRx,interference = (D/R – 1)n
PRx,useful  1/Rn ; PRx,interference  1/(D-R)n
• SPL is not efficient because it gives the average value
so that PRx,useful can be lower and PRx,interference higher
so that SIR becomes too low!
• Need of the fading margin to be on the safe side
Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 36
Signal-to-Interference Ratio
• The desired signal is weaker than its median value half the time (50%)
and stronger than its median value half the time
• Therefore, we can add a fading margin
 Museful for the desired signal: an additional transmit power in order to make
sure that the desired signal level exceeds a certain value, x% of the time
(e.g. 90%)
 Minterference for the interference: an interference power reduction in order to
make sure that the interference exceeds a certain value only (100−x)% of
the time (e.g. 10%)

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 37

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 38
Signal-to-Interference Ratio
• Example 3: SIR should not be less than 10 dB; consider a fading
margin of 10 dB for the desired signal for 90% of the time and of 10
dB for the interference for 10% of the time; find D/R; take n = 4.

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 39

Spring 2020 Dr. Achraf Mallat EENG587 LIU, Tripoli 40