An empirical model for dual-diversity reception over fixed wireless channels in suburban macrocell environments

Fixed wireless multipoint communication systems are increasingly being deployed in suburban macrocell environments, either to provide voice and data services to residences (wideband systems) or to supply automated meter reading and related supervisory control and data acquisition services (narrowband systems). Here, we show that a particularly simple yet complete first-order statistical characterization of two-branch diversity reception over fixed wireless channels can be given in terms of just five channel parameters: the average path gains and Ricean K-factors for each branch and the complex envelope correlation coefficient between the time-varying parts of the two path gains. We further show that all five parameters can be estimated from amplitude-only measurements of path gain vs. time, subject only to the assumption that the time-varying component of the path gain is complex Gaussian. We present representative sets of model parameters based upon data collected in typical suburban macrocell environments over time, location, and/or frequency using polarization diversity antennas. Because each of the model parameters, or its logarithm, is close to Gaussian, the set may be cast as a five-element vector of jointly random Gaussian processes. Despite obvious physical differences between the environments, the results show a remarkable consistency.