Use of Shadowing Moments to Statistically Model Mobile Satellite Channels in Urban Environments

Abstract

The performance of mobile satellite networks in built up areas is liable to deterioration since the wireless channel variations significantly affect the link availability over time. Previous statistical models which employ empirical data for estimation of fading parameters, are reliable only for specific environments. In this paper, we incorporate simple physical-statistical characteristics of urban canyons into estimation of shadowing moments which describe the received signal envelope. Our flexible model utilizes analytic fading parameters and accounts for azimuth and elevation angles hence, it facilitates simulation of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite links with good accuracy in areas where channel measurements are not available. Moreover, our novel approach can be effectively used for evaluation of the quality of service (QoS) in terms of bit error outage probability.