Analysis of Different Path Loss Propagation Models Based on 4G Walk Test Data

Abstract

The study of path loss propagation is of high importance in telecommunication, for optimizing the efficiency of wireless communication networks. In this paper, four path loss propagation models; free space path loss (FSPL) model, Okumura model, Okumura-Hata model, and COST 231-Hata model were compared. The models were compared using measurement data from Choba, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The data is gotten from a 4G walk test using two mobile applications. The first mobile application Network, Signal Info (version 5.68.07), was used to acquire the received signal strength in and the distance between the BTS antenna and the mobile antenna. While the second mobile application, G-NetTrack Lite (version 14.8), was used to map out the track path followed during the test. Choba, the study area, is a coastal suburban area with map coordinates 4.8941° N, 6.9263° E. The measured distance range was from 0.09 km to 0.45 km, and a path loss range of 69dB to 81dB. While the BTS and mobile antenna heights were 32 m and 1m respectively, with a carrier frequency of 800MHz. BTS transmission power of 23 dBm was assumed, based on 3GPP eNodeB recommendations. A graph comparison of the studied models showed that Okumura-Hata model and COST 231-Hata model had the closest predictions to the measured path loss. The need for better path loss models for 4G and 5G propagations was observed

Keywords

• path loss
• fspl
• okumura model
• okumura-hata model
• cost 231-hata model