Multipath Delay Characteristics on Line-of-Sight Microwave Radio System

Multipath properties on microwave line-of-sight links for the purpose of applying to microwave systems design are discussed. The theoretical analyses of the fading mechanism and the relation between multipath delay and radio duct parameters are carried out using the ray-optical method. Multipath delay have been measured with the frequency-sweep method and the three-frequency method on several paths in Japan since 1954. These paths are distributed in length from 20 km to 80 km, and include horizontal and slant paths. Through these theoretical and experimental analyses, a number of wave components in multipath propagation, the probability density function of multipath delay, the maximum delay and the relation between multipath delay and radio duct parameters are examined. The estimation method for path-length difference statistics, needed for evaluation of propagation distortion, is quantitatively given.