RF Propagation Models

Introduction
A well planned and designed cellular structure is a very important part of a successful
roll-out of a cellular mobile radio system. The cellular design has to be supported by the
physical layer to be able to back up the type of radio access technology to be adopted.
Thus, to enable for an efficient cellular design, in-depth knowledge regarding the
physical radio channel is needed. Accurate and robust prediction models are crucial to
be able to predict the radio channel behavior for where the cellular mobile radio system
is to be deployed. In particular, mean path loss and fading characteristics have to be
predicted to enable for the utilization of base stations (BS) with optimized characteristics.
A propagation model can be a set of mathematical expressions, diagrams and/or
algorithms used to represent the radio characteristics for a given environment. In
general, a model can be empirical (statistical), theoretical (deterministic), or a
combination of both.
Propagation mechanisms may generally be attributed to reflection, diffraction and
scattering

The following are samples of propagation models you can find in the excel document the
formula and allow you to modify the parameters to observe how they change the curve
of the path loss.

Free Space Path Loss

The most basic radio wave propagation scenario is when a radio wave travels in free
space from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna without being affected by
any obstacles in the radio wave channel. For this idealistic scenario, the received
average power depends only on the antennas separation distance and the average
received power is simply given by free space equation as

Where fc and d denote carrier frequency [MHz] and antenna separation distance [km],
respectively. This is general for all kind of signals and works for all ranges of frequency.

Hata-Okumura
In 1968, the now well-known Okumura model was published where a set of curves was
empirically derived from extensive measurements performed in Tokyo. The
measurements were performed using vertical omni-directional antennas in environments
that were classified as urban over quasi-smooth terrain. The model is applicable for
frequencies in the range of 150 1920MHz, antenna separation distances between 1
and 100 km, BS antenna heights ranging from 30 to 1000m. The model is one of the
simplest and most accurate path loss models to be used in cluttered areas and may be
extrapolated to be applicable for carrier frequencies up to 3000MHz.
The OkumuraHata model is likely to be the most used and widespread path loss
prediction model. The median path loss in dB given by Hata is an empirical formulation
of the graphical path loss data provided by Okumura and is expressed for urban areas
as:

For suburban Areas:

For Open Areas:

Where fc is the carrier frequency in MHz ranging from 150 to 1500MHz, d is the antenna
separation distance (1 20 km), heff is the effective base station antenna height in the
range of 30 200 m, hrx is the mobile antenna height ranging from 1 to 10 m, and a(hrx)
is the mobile antenna correction factor in dB.
For large cities is

For suburban Areas the path loss is

Cost 231 Hata

The model was developed by the European cooperation in the field of scientific and
technical research (COST) Action 231 group: evolution of land mobile radio. The model
is sometimes called Hata Model personal communication system (PCS) Extension and
is an extension of the OkumuraHata model to be applicable for fc > 1500MHz. The
model provides good path loss estimates for large urban cells (1 to 20 km), and a wide
range of parameters like frequency, base station height (30 to 200 m), and environment
(rural, suburban or dense urban).
The path loss is:

Where the constants take the following values

According with the kind of area the corrections factors are

Ericsson Okumura-Hata
A variant of the Okumura-Hata model has been developed at Ericsson for dimensioning.
This model can be used to estimate the size of macro cells, regardless of specific terrain
features in an area. The validity of the model is the same as the Hata model, except that
the frequency range has been stretched up to 3.5 GHz.
For 900 MHz, the path loss according to the Okumura-Hata model can be written
as:

Where:

Adjusting the A parameters, the formula is fitten using 900Mhz Values as reference

For example 700Mhz the A values are:

Ericsson Algorithm 9999

Algorithm 9999 is widely used within Ericsson and is implemented in the RF planning
tools Mentum CellPlanner and Mentum Planet. The algorithm is valid for the following
ranges:
150 f 2000 MHz
0.2 d 100 km

 20 hb 200 m
1 hm 5 m
Algorithm 9999 was originally based on the Okumura-Hata model but has been
developed further within Ericsson, using a large number of wave propagation
measurements.

PL [dB ] a0 a1 log 10 ( d ) a2 log 10 (hb ) a3 log 10 (hb ) log 10 (d ) 3,2 log 10 (11,75hm ) g ( f )
2

g ( f ) 44,49 log 10 ( f ) 4,78 log 10 ( f )

Using variable a constants in TEMS is possible to adjust the curve according with the
data obtained from the real world

PropagationModels.x
lsx

Reference:
http://internal.ericsson.com/page/hub_globalservices/products/delivery/nd/radio/propagat
ion.jsp?unit=31225371
http://www.sea-mist.se/tek/rcg.nsf/attachments/ErikOstlin_1_pdf/$file/ErikOstlin_1.pdf
http://research.ijcaonline.org/volume84/number7/pxc3892830.pdf
http://morse.colorado.edu/~tlen5510/text/classwebch3.html
http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?pid=S1815-59282013000100002&script=sci_arttext#e16