Propagation Modeling 103

5. PATH LOSS MODELS

It is well known that the received signal power decays with the square of the
path length in free space. That is, the received envelope power is [257]

where is the transmitted power, and are the transmitter and receiver
antenna gains, and d is the radio path length. The signals in land mobile
radio applications, however, do not experience free space propagation. A more
appropriate theoretical model assumes propagation over a flat reflecting surface
(the earth) as shown in Fig. 2.43. In this case, the received envelope power is
[257]

where and are the heights of the BS and MS antennas, respectively.

Under the condition that (2.225) reduces to

where we have invoked the approximation sin for small Observe that
when the propagation over a flat reflecting surface differs from free
space propagation in two ways. First, the path loss is not frequency dependent
and, second, the envelope power decays with the fourth power rather than the
square of the distance. Fig. 2.44 plots the path loss

against the distance d. Notice that the path loss and, hence, the received
envelope power has alternate minima and maxima when the path length is
small. This property has been noted in experiments by Milstein et. al. [223].
The last local maxima in the path loss occurs when

5.1 PATH LOSS IN MACROCELLS

Several highly useful empirical models for macrocellular systems have been
obtained by curve fitting experimental data. Two of the more useful models
for 900 MHz cellular systems are Hata’s model [253] based on Okumura’s
104

prediction method [162], and Lee’s model [190].

5.1.1 OKUMURA-HATA AND CCIR MODELS

Hata’s empirical model [162] is probably the simplest to use, and can dis-
tinguish between man-made structures. The empirical data for this model was
collected by Okumura [253] in the city of Tokyo. Be cautioned, however,
that the path losses for Japanese suburban areas do not match North American
suburban areas very well. The latter are more like the quasi-open areas in
Japan. Okumura and Hata’s model is expressed in terms of the carrier fre-
quency 150 BS antenna height 30 the
MS antenna height and the distance
 Propagation Modeling 105

between the BS and MS. The model is known to be accurate to within 1 dB for
distances ranging from 1 to 20 km. With Okumura and Hata’s model, the path
loss between two isotropic BS and MS antennas is

where

and

An empirical model was published by the CCIR that gives the path loss as

where A and B are defined in (2.229) with being the medium or small
city value in (2.230). The parameter E accounts for the degree of urbanization
and is given by

where when the area is covered by approximately 16% buildings.

Typical values from the Okumura-Hata “large city” model are plotted in
Fig. 2.45, for a BS height of 70 m, a MS antenna height of 1.5 m, and a
carrier frequency of 900 MHz. Several studies have shown that, due to a lesser
degree of urbanization, the North American urban areas have path losses similar
to the Japanese suburban areas.

5.1.2 LEE’S AREA-TO-AREA MODEL

Lee’s area-to-area model [190] is used to predict a path loss over flat terrain.
If the actual terrain is not flat, e.g., hilly, there will be large prediction errors.
Two parameters are required for Lee’s area-to-area model; the power at a 1 mile
106

(1.6 km) point of interception, and the path-loss exponent, The

received signal power can be expressed as

where d is in kilometers and The parameter is a correction

factor used to account for different BS and MS antenna heights, transmit powers,
and antenna gains. The following set of nominal conditions are assumed in
Lee’s area-to-area model:
frequency MHz
BS antenna height = 30.48 m
BS transmit power = 10 watts
BS antenna gain = 6 dB above dipole gain
MS antenna height = 3 m
MS antenna gain = 0 dB above dipole gain
If the actual conditions are different from those listed above, then we compute
the following parameters:
 Propagation Modeling 107

different antenna-gain correction factor at the MS (2.234)

From these parameters, the correction factor is

The parameters and have been found from empirical measure-

ments, and are listed in Table 2.6.
Experimental data suggest that n in (2.233) ranges between 2 and 3 with the
exact value depending upon the carrier frequency and the geographic area. For
MHz in a suburban or open area, is recommended. In an urban
area with is recommended. The value of in (2.234)
can also be determined from empirical data

The path loss is the difference between the transmitted and received
field strengths, To compare with the
Okumura-Hata model we must assume an isotropic BS antenna with 0 dB gain,
so that . Then by using the nominal BS transmitter power of
40 dBm (10 watts) along with the parameters in Tab. 2.6 for and
the following path losses can be obtained
108

These typical values from Lee’s area-to-area model are plotted in Fig. 2.46,
for the same parameters used with Okumura-Hata model in Fig. 2.45.

5.2 PATH LOSS IN OUTDOOR MICROCELLS

Most of the future PCS microcellular systems are expected to operate in
1800-2000 MHz frequency bands. Some studies have suggested that the path
losses experienced at 1845 MHz are about 10 dB larger than those experienced
at 955 MHz when all other parameters are kept constant [68]. The COST231
study [69] has resulted in two models for urban microcellular propagation, the
COST231-Hata model and the COST231-Walfish-Ikegami model.

5.2.1 COST231-HATA MODEL

The COST231-Hata model is based on the proposal by Mogensen [226]
 Propagation Modeling 109

et. al. to extend Okumura and Hata’s model for use in the 1500-2000 MHz
frequency range, where it is known that Okumura and Hata’s model under
estimates the path loss. The COST231-Hata model is expressed in terms of the
carrier frequency 1500 BS antenna height
200 (m), MS antenna height and distance
In particular, the path loss with the COST231-Hata model is

where

Although both the Okumura and Hata and the COST231-Hata models are
limited to BS antenna heights greater than 30 m, they can be used for lower BS
antenna heights provided that the surrounding buildings are well below the BS
antennas. They should not be used to predict path loss in urban canyons. The
COST231-Hata model is good down to a path length of 1 km. It should not be
used for smaller ranges, where path loss becomes highly dependent upon the
local topography.

5.2.2 COST231-WALFISH-IKEGAMI MODEL

The COST231 -Walfish-Ikegami model distinguishes between LoS and NLoS
propagation. The model is accurate for carrier frequencies in the range
and path distances in the range

LoS propagation:. For LoS propagation in a street canyon, the path loss is

where the first constant is chosen so that is equal to the free-space path loss
at a distance of 20 m. The model parameters are the distance d (km) and carrier
frequency

NLoS propagation:. As defined in Fig. 2.47, the path loss for non line-of-
sight (NLoS) propagation is expressed in terms of the following parameters:
BS antenna height,
MS antenna height,
roof heights of buildings (m)
height of BS relative to rooftops (m)
110

height of MS relative to rooftops (m)

width of streets (m)
building separation (m)
road orientation with respect to the direct radio path, degrees

If no data on the structure of the buildings and roads are available, the following
default values are recommended, and
number of floors + roof (m), where pitched and
0 (m) flat.
The NLoS path loss is composed of three terms, viz.,

where
free-space loss
roof-to-street diffraction and scatter loss
multi-screen diffraction loss
The roof-top-to-street diffraction and scatter loss is

where

is an orientation loss.
 Propagation Modeling 111

The multi-screen diffraction loss is

where

is the shadowing gain (negative loss) for cases when the BS antenna is above
the rooftops. The parameters and depend on the path length, d, and base
station elevation with respect to the rooftops The term accounts for
the increase in path loss when the BS antennas are situated below the roof tops
of adjacent buildings, and is given by

The terms and control the dependency of the multi-screen diffraction loss
on the distance and frequency, respectively, and are given by

The COST231-Walfish-Ikegami model works best for Large

prediction errors can be expected for The model is poor for
because the terms in (2.245) do not consider wave guiding in street
canyons and diffraction at street corners.

5.2.3 STREET MICROCELLS

For ranges less than 500 m and antenna heights less than 20 m, some
empirical measurements have shown that the received signal strength for LoS
propagation along city streets can be described by the two-slope model [161,
149, 175, 360, 268, 345]

where is the transmitted power, k is a constant and d (m) is the distance.

Close into the BS, free space propagation will prevail so that The
parameter g is called the break point and ranges from 150 to 300 m [161,
149, 175, 360]. At larger distances, an inverse-fourth to -eighth power law is
experienced so that b ranges from 2 to 6. This is probably caused by increased
shadowing at the greater distances [161]. The model parameters that were
obtained by Harley [161] are listed in Table 2.7. Xia [366] has demonstrated
that the break-point occurs where the Fresnel zone between the two antennas
112

just touches the ground assuming a flat surface. This distance is

where For high frequencies this distance can

be approximated as Notice that the break-point is dependent on
frequency, with the break-point at 1.9 GHz being about twice that for 900 MHz.

Street microcells may also exhibit NLoS propagation when a MS rounds a

street corner as shown in Fig. 2.48. In this case, the average received signal
strength can drop by 25-30 dB over distances as small as 10 m for low antenna
heights in an area with multi-story buildings [51, 324, 207, 238, 286], and by
25-30 dB over distances of 45-50 m for low antenna heights in a region with
only one- or two-story buildings [286]. This phenomenon is called the corner
effect.
Grimlund and Gudmundson [149] have proposed an empirical street corner
path loss model. Their model assumes LoS propagation until the MS reaches a
street corner. The NLoS propagation after rounding a street corner is modeled
 Propagation Modeling 113

by assuming LoS propagation from an imaginary transmitter that is located at

the street corner having a transmit power equal to the received power at the
street corner from the serving BS. That is, the received signal strength (in dBm)
is given by

where (m) is the distance between the serving BS and the corner. For the
scenario depicted in Fig. 2.48, the received signal strength with this model is
shown in Fig. 2.49. The heavy curves show the average received signal strength
from the two BSs as the MS traverses the dashed path shown in Fig. 2.48. These
curves were obtained by using and
in (2.250), and assuming that at The dotted curves
superimposed on the heavy lines in Fig. 2.49 show the received signal strength
with the combined effects of path loss, log-normal shadowing, and multipath-
fading. The latter two were obtained by using the simulators described in
Sections (4.1) and (3.2).
114

5.3 PATH LOSS IN INDOOR MICROCELLS

Indoor microcellular systems are becoming very important for providing
wireless voice and data communications within the home and work-place. The
characterization of in-building radio propagation is necessary for the effective
deployment of these systems. In general, the path loss and shadowing charac-
teristics vary greatly from one building to the next. Typical path loss exponents
and shadow standard deviations are provided in Table 2.8 for several different
types of buildings.
For multistory buildings, the RF attenuation between floors is important for
frequency reuse on different floors of the same building. Measurements have
indicated that the greatest floor loss occurs when the transmitter and receiver
are separated by a single floor. Typically, the floor loss is 15 to 20 dB for
one floor and an additional 6 to 10 dB per floor up to a separation of 4 floors.
For 5 or more floors of separation, the overall floor loss will increase only
a few dB for each additional floor. This effect is thought to be caused by
signals diffracting up the sides of the building and signals scattering off the
neighboring buildings. Also important for the deployment of indoor wireless
systems is the building penetration loss. This loss depends on the frequency
and height of the building. Turkmani et. al. [323] have shown that the building
penetration losses decrease with increasing frequency, in particular they are
16.4, 11.6, and 7.6 dB at 441 MHz, 896.5 MHz, and 1400 MHz, respectively.
In general the building penetration loss for signals propagating into a building
tends to decrease with height, the reason being that a LoS path is more likely
to exist at increased height. The building penetration loss decreases by about
2 dB per floor from ground level up to about 9 to 15 floors and then increases
again [346]. Windows also have a significant effect on penetration loss. Plate
glass provides an attenuation of about 6 dB, while lead lined glass provides an
attenuation anywhere from 3 to 30 dB.