Measurement and Evaluation Techniques to Estimate the Degradation Produced by the Radiated Transients Interference to the GSM System

A common source of noise for digital communication systems is the radiated transient interference. As an example, it has been reported that the degradation is produced to the Global System for Mobile (GSM)-Railway signaling system when the impulsive noise is generated by sparks caused by the discontinuity between the catenary and the pantograph. Concerning the measurement and evaluation procedures defined in the electromagnetic compatibility standards, they are not suitable for these types of transient disturbances. Therefore, new techniques must be developed to determine, with a high confidence level, the degradation that impulsive noise will produce in communication systems. In this paper, novel time-domain measurement procedures are carried out to acquire transient interferences generated by sparks properly. Moreover, two different evaluation methodologies, employing base-band simulation and amplitude probability distribution detector, are used to analyze the impact of the disturbance applied into a GSM system interference scenario. Finally, the results obtained with the developed methodologies are successfully compared with a reference measure where the GSM downlink channel quality is monitored by a mobile station test unit.