The $\kappa -\mu$ Distribution Applied to the Analysis of Fading in Body to Body Communication Channels for Fire and Rescue Personnel

In this letter, we perform a novel characterization of the fading experienced in body to body communications channels for fire and rescue personnel using the recently proposed kappa - mu distribution. A transmitter positioned on the lead fire person and four strategically placed, time-synchronized 2.45-GHz receivers situated on the protective helmet and shoulders of another team member allowed small-scale signal variation to be recorded while a rescue team of four persons performed a building sweep and search type operation. A general kappa - mu model with parameters kappa=2.31 and mu=1.19 was obtained using maximum likelihood estimation and shown to provide a good fit to measured data. Level crossing rates for these channels are also presented.