Aeronautical Voice Radio Channel Modelling and Simulation -- A Tutorial Review

The basic concepts in the modelling and simulation of the mobile radio channel are reviewed. The time-variant channel is dominated by multipath propagation, Doppler effect, path loss and additive noise. Stochastic reference models in the equivalent complex baseband facilitate a compact mathematical description of the channel’s input-output relationship. The realisation of these reference models as filtered Gaussian processes leads to practical implementations of frequency selective and frequency nonselective channel models. Three different small-scale area simulations of the aeronautical voice radio channel are presented. We demonstrate the practical implementation of a frequency flat fading channel. Based on a scenario in air/ground communication the parameters for the readily available simulators are derived. The resulting outputs give insight into the characteristics of the channel and serve as a basis for the design of digital transmission and measurement techniques.