Revista: IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine. Vol 44. No. 4. Aug. 2002. Pp. 40-50.

Autores: T. K. Sarkar, H. Schwarzlander, S. Choi, M. Salazar-Palma, M. C. Wicks

When trying to analyze a complex communication system, scientists often apply concepts from stochastic modeling and analysis to obtain a description of the system, frequently assuming that this will supplement our knowledge and improve our understanding. The philosophy is to obtain a result that would occur on the average, when this system is working under normal conditions. However, we must consider the fact that the introduction of probability in communication-system analysis often involves invoking certain assumptions and additional information about the system, which may not be valid. Hence, under these circumstances one may obtain a result that may not be commensurate with the conceived communication system. The objective of this paper is to highlight the basic assumptions that are invariably associated with the signal analysis in a system using stochastic analysis, and the introduction of probabilistic methods. Surprisingly, in many cases, analysis using stochastic methods may provide results equivalent to those obtained using deterministic methods.