K-factor (telecommunications)

In telecommunication, the term k-factor has the following meanings:

  1. In tropospheric radio propagation, the ratio of the effective Earth radius to the actual Earth radius. The k-factor is approximately 4/3.
  2. In multipath environments, the Ricean k-factor describes the power ratio between the direct path component and scattered multipath components.[1]
  3. 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 reflection.
  4. In laser diode technology, the exceed spontaneous emission noise in gain-guided lasers.

References

  1. ^ "Statistical properties of a sine wave plus random noise" SO Rice - Bell Syst. Tech. J, 1948