Description
This edition updates and continues the series of books based on the residential courses on radiowave propagation organised by the IEE/IET. The first course was held in 1974, with lectures by H. Page, P. Matthews, D. Parsons, M.W. Gough, P.A. Watson, E. Hickin, T. Pratt, P. Knight, T.B. Jones, P.A. Bradley, B. Burgess and H. Rishbeth.
That was seen as a standalone course, but the need was recognised again and led to a succession of courses held every two or three years starting in 1986. A book Radiowave Propagation, edited by M.P.M. Hall and L.W. Barclay, was published by the IEE in 1989 based on the 1986 course. Following the fifth course in 1994, the lecture notes were published by the IEE in 1996 in Propagation of Radiowaves, edited by M.P.M. Hall, L.W. Barclay and M.T. Hewitt. This was succeeded by a second edition in 2003, edited by Les Barclay, based on the eighth course held in 2000.
This third edition is loosely based on the 12th course organised by the IET in 2007, but because of the passage of time since that course it includes more recent updating.
An understanding of radiowave propagation is fundamental to the effective use of radio for radiocommunication1. As the demand for higher data rates and higher reliability continues, applications develop and new applications are introduced, so the need for an extended and more detailed knowledge and for a predictive capability based on the requirements of the application continues to grow. Within the constraints of a one-week lecture course and a one volume book it is not possible to be entirely comprehensive, but it is intended that the wide range of topics presented cover all parts of the radio spectrum where there is significant current interest. Studies of radiowave propagation might be considered in two distinct ways: either as a purely scientific endeavour probing the interaction of radiowaves with the atmosphere and the earth’s surface features; or as a largely empirical approach describing propagation over a path based on past observations. The contents of this book are intended for radiowave propagation engineers with a firm basis on established theory, and on extensive databanks of measurement, leading towards the most appropriate methods and procedures for assessing the estimated performance of radio systems. ITU-R Study Group 3 (see section 1.15), through its annual meetings and the progressive review and updating of Recommendations, probably provides the best and most comprehensive set of propagation information, and this book seeks to put that information into context.
Contents:
- Introduction
- Radio waves
- Electromagnetic wave propagation
- Fading and statistics
- Radio noise
- Clear-air characteristics of the troposphere
- Reflection and scattering from rough surfaces
- Introduction to multipath propagation
- Diffraction
- Propagation in rain and clouds
- The ionosphere
- Ionospheric propagation
- Surface waves, and sky waves below 2 MHz
- Terrestrial line-of-sight links
- Propagation for mobile and area coverage systems
- Short-range and indoor propagation
- Fixed wireless access and radio LANs
- Earth–space propagation
- Terahertz propagation
- Computer modelling
- Numerically intensive propagation prediction methods