Application of channel sounding to CDMA PCS design at 1900 MHz

The RAKE receiver used in PCS IS-95 CDMA communication systems has the ability to coherently combine and demodulate individually received multipath components. In order to optimize the settings of the RAKE receiver (i.e. RAKE search window), knowledge of the multipath delay spread characteristics in the area of receiver operation is required. This paper documents analysis of measured multipath characteristics in the dense urban, urban, suburban and rural areas in and around a major metropolitan city. Measured power delay profiles are characterized in terms of RMS delay spread, and number of resolvable multipath components.