3
CHANNEL IMPAIRMENTS
In a communication system, signals are subject to a myriad of impairments that accumulate over the path between the transmitter and receiver (see Figure 3.1). These signals are used to allow the exchange of messages between these two parties. For this message to be properly extracted, the received signal must have a signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SNIR) higher than a certain threshold. Otherwise, the message cannot be properly understood by the receiving party.
There are several impairments that degrade the SNIR. The SNIR degradation occurs in two different ways: (1) by decreasing the signal level (S), and (2) by increasing the noise (N) and interference (I) levels.
The attenuation is the factor that causes a decrease ...
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