Performance of time diversity technique in heavy rain region

Satellite communication systems operating at frequencies above 10 GHz are often subject to deep fades due to rain attenuation. One of the cost-effective countermeasures that can be used to counteract severe rain attenuation is time diversity. In this paper, performance of time diversity is investigated based on a one-year, Ku-band propagation measurement campaign carried out in heavy rain region. The results found show that the diversity gain increases as a function of time delay. The performance of time diversity is compared with prediction obtained by applying the Stratiform Convective-Synthetic Storm Technique (SC-SST) and a good agreement with measured statistics has been found.