Troposcatter angle diversity in theory and practice

Background work on the behavior of angle diversity in the troposcatter mode is briefly reviewed, together with some important applications. Favorable predictions of angle diversity behavior, based on established theory and limited experimental validation, have encouraged confirmatory trials on an established oversea troposcatter link temporarily adapted for angle diversity working. Trials at the U.K. terminal involved simultaneous comparison between a reference dual (angle/space) diversity system and optimized angle diversity systems, involving horizontally splayed beams and latterly vertically splayed beams. The horizontally offset system yielded channel cross correlations and post-combiner relative efficiencies, well in keeping with theoretical prediction, while the vertically offset system performed significantly better than predicted.