This chapter discusses the radiowaves that arrive in communication receivers. In all except very simple transmission conditions, radio communication links are subjected to conditions in which energy can travel from the transmitter to the receiver via more than one path. This "multipath" situation arises in different ways depending upon the application, for example in MF and HF skywave transmissions it arises because of reflections from two or more ionospheric layers, or from two-hop propagation. In mobile radio, it arises because of reflection and scattering from buildings, trees and other obstacles along the path.

Inspec keywords: electromagnetic wave reflection; electromagnetic wave scattering; radiowave propagation; mobile radio; radio receivers

Other keywords: ionospheric layers; mobile radio; HF skywave transmissions; two-hop propagation; radio communication links; transmitter; MF skywave transmissions; diversity techniques; communication receivers

Subjects: Radio links and equipment