Abstract
The canonical ray tracing model of R. H. Clarke is used to validate the concept of mitigation bandwidth as used to predict DSPN spread spectrum signal variability at a mobile receiving antenna in dense scatterers. Illustrative examples of chip pulse dispersion are presented, and bit error rate performance is explored under the assumption of slow fading. The pulse dispersion is seen to pose potential obstacles to any eventual chip timing extraction and radio‐location ranging functions. Serendipitously, the performance of a DSPN embodiment of a 180° DPSK data link is seen to approximate closely that of a corresponding narrowband Rician fading link, even though no specular signal component is available to the DSPN link. The parameters of the equivalent Rician link are easily predicted from those of the DSPN link.