A new theoretical model for the prediction of rapid fading variations in an indoor environment

The fast fading characteristics in an indoor environment are studied through a new statistical model established under the assumption of a finite number of scatterers and based on the modified Student's t distribution. The use of this model in the indoor environment reflects (better than the conventional Rayleigh model) the conditions that are met inside buildings and are described well by a small number of easily identifiable parameters. An analytical expression for this so-called Polydorou Capsalis (POCA) distribution is developed assuming a finite number of scatterers, and its statistical characteristics are analyzed. Then, this distribution is used in order to describe the fast fading characteristics in an indoor environment. For this purpose, measurements in the 900-MHz-frequency band have been done in an office environment. The performance of the POCA distribution is compared to the conventional Rayleigh distribution, and it is found that the fast fading characteristics are better described by this distribution.