K-factor (telecommunications)
Encyclopedia
In telecommunication
, the term k-factor has the following meanings:
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
, the term k-factor has the following meanings:
- In tropospheric radio propagation, the ratio of the effective Earth radiusEffective Earth radiusIn telecommunication, effective Earth radius is the radius of a hypothetical Earth for which the distance to the radio horizon, assuming rectilinear propagation, is the same as that for the actual Earth with an assumed uniform vertical gradient of atmospheric refractive index.Note: For the...
to the actual Earth radius. The k-factor is approximately 4/3. - In multipath environments, the Ricean k-factor describes the power ratio between the direct path component and scattered multipath components.
- In ionospheric radio propagation, a correction factor that (a) is applied in calculations related to curved layers, and (b) is a function of distance and the real height of ionospheric reflectionIonospheric reflectionIonospheric reflection is a bending, through a complex process involving reflection and refraction, of electromagnetic waves propagating in the ionosphere back toward the Earth....
. - In laser diodeLaser diodeThe laser diode is a laser where the active medium is a semiconductor similar to that found in a light-emitting diode. The most common type of laser diode is formed from a p-n junction and powered by injected electric current...
technology, the exceed spontaneous emission noise in gain-guided lasers.