A time-varying stochastic framework for modeling wireless channels

Wireless communication channels can be complex and exhibit unpredictable behavior. This behavior can be successfully represented by stochastic processes undergoing random perturbation due to shifts in the underlying physical state of the channel. These state transitions manifest themselves as changes in channel power level measurements taken over time from a remote reference beacon. In this paper, we expand the application of switched process theory to develop models of maritime and land satellite communications using generalized switched Fokker-Planck equation techniques. This application yields a broad class of models that may be treated analytically and numerically. These models are ideal for system-level simulation due to high numerical efficiency and limited maintenance calculation requirements.