Rician K-Factor Distribution in Broadband Fixed Wireless Access Channels under Rain Fades

The performance of broadband fixed wireless access (BFWA) systems operating at frequencies above 10 GHz is adversely influenced by rainfall, which introduces severe attenuation and a short-term variation to the received signal. In this letter, the fading channel of a BFWA link is modeled as Rician with a strong Rician K-factor. A novel analytical model relating the Rician K-factor with the rain fading effects is presented based on which, an analytical prediction model for the cumulative distribution of the Rician K-factor is derived. Experimental data is necessary to validate the proposed models. The presented methodology provides an efficient way to incorporate the mathematically intractable physical input of rain fading into the "easy-to-simulate" Rician channel model. The proposed models can be applied on a global scale and incorporate the impact of various crucial operational and geometrical parameters of a BFWA system on the wideband multipath behavior of the channel. Useful numerical results regarding the validity of the presented models are also provided