  A fundamental problem in the delay and backlog analysis across multi-hop
paths in wireless networks is how to account for the random properties of the
wireless channel. Since the usual statistical models for radio signals in a
propagation environment do not lend themselves easily to a description of the
available service rate on a wireless link, the performance analysis of wireless
networks has resorted to higher-layer abstractions, e.g., using Markov chain
models. In this work, we propose a network calculus that can incorporate common
statistical models of fading channels and obtain statistical bounds on delay
and backlog across multiple nodes. We conduct the analysis in a transfer
domain, which we refer to as the `SNR domain', where the service process at a
link is characterized by the instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio at the
receiver. We discover that, in the transfer domain, the network model is
governed by a dioid algebra, which we refer to as (min,x)-algebra. Using this
algebra we derive the desired delay and backlog bounds. An application of the
analysis is demonstrated for a simple multi-hop network with Rayleigh fading
channels and for a network with cross traffic.
