在无线通信领域，衰落是指由于信道的变化导致接收信号的幅度发生随机变化的现象，即信号衰落。导致信号衰落的信道被称作衰落信道。

衰落可按时间、空间、频率，三个角度来分类。

在时间上，分为慢衰落和快衰落。慢衰落描述的是信号幅度的长期变化，是传播环境在较长时间、较大范围内发生变化的结果，因此又被称为长期衰落、大尺度衰落。快衰落则描述了信号幅度的瞬时变化，与多径传播有关，又被称为短期衰落、小尺度衰落。慢衰落是快衰落的中值。

在空间上，分为瑞利衰落和莱斯衰落。瑞利衰落适用于从发射机到接收机不存在直射信号的情况；相反，莱斯衰落适用于发射机到接收机存在直射路径的情况。

In wireless communications, fading is deviation of the attenuation affecting a signal over certain propagation media. The fading may vary with time, geographical position or radio frequency, and is often modeled as a random process. A fading channel is a communication channel that experiences fading. In wireless systems, fading may either be due to multipath propagation, referred to as multipath induced fading, or due to shadowing from obstacles affecting the wave propagation, sometimes referred to as shadow fading.