Measuring broadband radio channel parameters using a simple experimental set-up

A method is presented for measuring the main parameters required to estimate the capacity of the radio channel for wideband communications as the root mean square time delay and the coherence bandwidth. This method is based on the possibility of estimating the power delay profile from the knowledge of only the module of the transfer function of the channel in conjunction with the Hilbert transform. The major advantages of the method are first, the possibility to experimentally characterize the wideband channel performance by employing widely used and low cost instrumentation, and second the possibility to extend the technique to outdoor radio channels. The error associated to the approximated method is quantified, so that it can be used from an engineering point of view in the planning and development of wideband wireless communications systems.