(IJCNS) International Journal of Computer and Network Security, 13

Vol. 2, No. 10, 2010

Analysis of Statistical Path Loss Models for Mobile

Communications
Y. Ramakrishna1, Dr. P. V. Subbaiah2 and V. Ratnakumari 3
1
PVP Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Vijayawada, India
ramakrishna@pvpsiddhartha.ac.in
2
Amrita Sai Institute of Science & Technology, Vijayawada, India
pvs_ece2000@yahoo.co.in
3
PVP Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Vijayawada, India
vemuri_ratna@yahoo.com

strength and other parameters such as antenna heights,

Abstract: The ability to accurately predict radio propagation
behavior for mobile communications is becoming crucial to
system design. Unlike deterministic models which require more
computations, statistical models are easier to implement, require
less computational effort and are less sensitive to the
environmental geometry. In mobile radio systems, most of the
models regarding fading apply stochastic process to describe the
distribution of the received signal. It is useful to use these
models to simulate propagation channels and to estimate the
performance of the system in a homogeneous environment.
Propagation models that predict the mean signal strength for an
arbitrary Transmitter-Receiver (T-R) separation distance are
called large-scale propagation models, since they characterize
signal strength over large T-R separation distance. In this paper,
the large-scale propagation performance of COST-231 Walfisch
Ikegami and Hata models has been compared varying Mobile
Station (MS) antenna height, T-R separation distance and Base
Station (BS) antenna height, considering the system to operate
at 850 MHz. Through MATLAB simulation it is observed that
the COST-231 model shows better performance than Hata
Model.
Keywords: Path Loss, COST-231 Walfisch Ikegami Model, Hata
Model.
terrain profiles, etc through the use of extensive
measurement and statistical analysis.
Radio transmission in a mobile communication system
often takes place over irregular terrain. The terrain profile of
a particular area needs to be taken into account for
estimating the path loss. The terrain profile may vary from a
simple curved earth profile to a highly curved mountainous
profile. A number of propagation models are available to
predict path loss over irregular terrain. While all these
models aim to predict signal strength at a particular
receiving point or in a specific location called sector, the
methods vary widely in their approach, complexity and
accuracy. Most of these models are based on a systematic
interpretation of measurement data obtained in the service
area.
In this paper, the wideband propagation performance of
COST-231 Walfisch Ikegami and Hata models has been
compared varying MS antenna height, propagation distance,
and BS antenna height considering the system to operate at
850 MHz. Through the MATLAB simulation it turned out
that the COST-231 Walfisch Ikegami model outperforms
the other large scale propagation models.

1. Introduction 2. Models for Predicting Propagation Path

Propagation models have traditionally focused on predicting
the received signal strength at a given distance from the
transmitter, as well as the variability of the signal strength
in a close spatial proximity to a particular location.
Propagation models that predict the signal strength for an
arbitrary T-R separation distance are useful in estimating
the radio coverage area of a transmitter. Conversely,
propagation models that characterize the rapid fluctuations
of the received signal strength over very short travel
distances are called small-scale or fading models [1].
Propagation models are useful for predicting signal
attenuation or path loss. This path loss information may be
used as a controlling factor for system performance or
coverage so as to achieve perfect reception. The common
approaches to propagation modeling include physical
models and empirical models. In this paper, only empirical
models are considered. Empirical models use measurement
data to model a path loss equation. To conceive these
models, a correlation was found between the received signal
Loss
A good model for predicting mobile radio propagation loss
should be able to distinguish among open areas, sub urban
areas and urban areas. All urban areas, hilly or flat areas are
unique in terrain, buildings and street configurations. The
models described in this paper are considered to design a
prediction model for urban area. A good prediction model
follows the same guidelines, so that every user gets the same
answer for given conditions.
Path loss may occur due to many effects, such as free-
space loss, refraction, diffraction, reflection, aperture-
medium coupling loss and absorption [2]. Path loss is also
influenced by terrain contours, environment (urban or rural,
vegetation and foliage), propagation medium (dry or moist
air), the distance between the transmitter and the receiver,
and the height of antennas.
Path loss normally includes propagation losses caused
by
14 (IJCNS) International Journal of Computer and Network Security,
Vol. 2, No. 10, 2010
• The natural expansion of the radio wave front in free optimum network design. Among the radio propagation
space. models, city models are to be analyzed in this paper to find
• Absorption losses (sometimes called penetration losses) the best fitting city model. The well known propagation
• When the signal passes through media not transparent models for urban areas are:
to electromagnetic waves and diffraction losses. i) COST-231 Walfisch Ikegami Model
The signal radiated by a transmitter may also travel ii) Hata Model
along many and different paths to a receiver simultaneously;
this effect is called multipath propagation. Multipath
propagation can either increase or decrease received signal 3.1 COST-231 Walfisch Ikegami Model
strength, depending on whether the individual multipath
wave fronts interfere constructively or destructively. This model is being considered for use by International
In wireless communications, path loss can be Telecommunication Union-Radio Communication Sector
represented by the path loss exponent, whose value is (ITU-R) in the international Mobile Telecommunications-
normally in the range of 2 to 5 (where 2 is for propagation 2000 (IMT-2000) standards activities [1]. This model is
in free space, 5 is for relatively lossy environments) [1]. In applicable for frequencies in the range of 150 to 1800 MHz.
some environments, such as buildings, stadiums and other This utilizes the theoretical Walfisch-Bertoni model, and is
indoor environments, the path loss exponent can reach composed of three terms:
values in the range of 4 to 6. On the other hand, a tunnel
may act as a waveguide, resulting in a path loss exponent L0 + Lrts + Lmsd forLrts + Lmsd > 0
L0 (d ) = (4)
less than 2. L0 Lrts + Lmsd ≤ 0
The free-space path loss is denoted by L p (d) , which is
L p ( d ) = −20 log 10  
c / fc
4Π d  (dB )
(1) where L0 represents the free space path loss, Lrts is the
 rooftop-street diffraction and scatterer loss, and Lmsd is the
where c = velocity of light, fc = carrier frequency and d = multi screen diffraction loss. The free space loss is given by
distance between transmitter and receiver.
L0 = 32.4 + 20 log d + 20 log f (5)
For long-distance path loss with shadowing, the path loss
is denoted by L p (d), which is Where d is the radio-path length (in km), f is the radio
n
frequency (in MHz), and
L p ( d ) ∝  d  ,d ≥ d
 (2)
 d0 
0

Lrts = −16.9 − 10 log w + 10log f + 20log ∆hMobile + Lori (6)

or equivalently,

( d )(
Lp (d ) = Lp (d0 ) + 10n log10 d
0 dB)
, d ≥ d0 (3)
Here w is the street width (in m) and

where n = path loss component, d0 = the close-in reference ∆hMobile = hRoof − hMobile (7)
distance (typically 1 km for macro cells, 100m for micro
cells), d = distance between transmitter and receiver. is the difference between the height of the building on which
the base station antenna is located, hRoof, and the height of
3. Point-to-Point Prediction Models the mobile antenna, hMobile. Lori is the loss that arises due to
the orientation of the street. It depends on the angle of
Calculation of the path loss is usually called prediction. incidence ( φ ) of the wave relative to the direction of the
Exact prediction is possible only for simpler cases, such as
street.
the above-mentioned free space propagation or the flat-earth
Lori is given by
model. For practical cases the path loss is calculated using a
variety of approximations.
− 10 + 0 . 354 φ 0 0 ≤ φ < 35 0
The area-to-area model provides path loss with long (8)
L ori = 2 . 5 + 0 . 075 (φ − 35 ) for 35 0 ≤ φ < 55 0
range of uncertainty. Point-to-Point prediction reduces the
4 . 0 − 0 . 114 (φ − 55 ) 55 0 ≤ φ < 90 0
uncertainty range by applying the detailed terrain contour
information to the path-loss predictions. Point-to-point Lmsd is given by
prediction is very useful in mobile cellular system design,
where the radius of each cell is 16 kilometers or less. It can Lmsd = Lbsh + ka + kd log d + k f log f − 9 log b (9)
provide information to insure uniform coverage and
avoidance of co-channel interference. Where b is the distance between the buildings along the
Statistical methods (also called stochastic or empirical) signal path and Lbsh and ka represent the increase of path
are based on fitting curves with analytical expressions that loss due to a reduced base station antenna height. Using the
recreate a set of measured data. abbreviation
In the cities the density of people is high. So the more ∆hBase = hBase − hRoof (10)
accurate loss prediction model will be a good help for the
Base Station Transceiver System (BTS) mapping for Where hbase is the base station antenna height, we observe
that Lbsh and ka are given through
 (IJCNS) International Journal of Computer and Network Security, 15
Vol. 2, No. 10, 2010
as part of the path loss [7] – [9]. In small cells, the loss is
− 18 log( 1 + ∆ hBase ) hBase > h Roof calculated based on the dimensions of the building blocks.
L bsh = (11)
0 hBase ≤ hRoof Since the ground incident angles of the waves are small due
to the low antenna heights used in small cells, the exact
54 hBase> hRoof height of buildings in the middle of the propagation paths is
ka = 54− 0.8∆hBase d ≥ 0.5km hBase≤ hRoof (12) not important. Although the strong received signal at the
54−1.6∆hBased d ≥ 0.5km hBase≤ hRoof mobile unit is come from the multipath reflected waves not
from the waves penetrating through buildings, there is a
The terms kd and kf control the dependence of the correlation between the attenuation of the signal and the
multiscreen diffraction loss versus distance and the radio total building blocks, along the radio path.
frequency of operation, respectively. They are
18 hBase> hRoof 4. Performance Analysis
kd = ∆h (13)
18−15 Base hBase≤ hRoof
hRoof In this paper, the propagation path loss has been assessed
by considering the parameters BTS Antenna height, MS
And
Antenna height and T-R separation for the COST-231
 f 
k f = −4 + 0.7 − 1 (14) Walfisch Ikegami and Hata models by MATLAB
 925  simulation.
for medium-sized cities and suburban centers with moderate
tree densities and for metropolitan centers.
 f 
k f = −4 + 1.5 − 1 (15) 190

 925  Ikegami
Hata
185
3.2 Hata model
It is an empirical formulation of the graphical path loss data 180
provided by Okumara’s model. The formula for the median
P ath loss (dB)

path loss in urban areas is given by

175

L50 (urban)(dB) = 69.55 + 26.16 log f c − 13.82 log hte

−a (hre ) + (44.9 − 6.55 log hte ) log d (16) 170

where fc is the frequency and varies from 150 to 1500

165
MHz, hte and hre are the effective height of the base station
and the mobile antennas (in meters) respectively, d is the
160
distance from the base station to the mobile antenna, and 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Base Station Antenna Height (Mt.)
a(hre) is the correction factor for the effective antenna height
of the mobile which is a function of the size of the area of Figure 1. Propagation path loss due to the change in the
coverage [2]. For small to medium-sized cities, the mobile BTS antenna height.
antenna correction factor is given by

a(hre) = (1.1log fc − 0.7)hre − (1.56log fc − 0.8) dB (17)

190
For a large city, it is given by Hata
185 Ikegami

8.29(log1.54hre )2 − 1.1 dB for fc ≤ 300MHz

a (hre ) = (18) 180
3.2(log11.75hre )2 − 4.97 dB for fc ≥ 300MHz
175
Path loss (dB)

When the size of the cell is small, less than 1 km, the 170
street orientation and individual blocks of buildings make a
difference in signal reception [3]. Those street orientations 165

and individual blocks of buildings do not make any 160

noticeable difference in reception when this signal is well
attenuated at a distance over 1 km. Over a large distance the 155

relatively great mobile radio propagation loss of 40 dB/dec 150

is due to the situation that two waves, direct and reflected,
are more or less equal in strength [4] – [6]. The local 145
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
scatterers (buildings surroundings the mobile unit) reflect Mobile Antenna Height (Mt.)

this signal causing only the multipath fading not the path
loss at the mobile unit. When the cells are small, the signal Figure 2. Propagation path loss due to the change in the MS
arriving at the mobile unit is blocked by the individual antenna height.
buildings; this weakens the signal strength and is considered
16
Figure 1 depicts the variation of path loss with base
station antenna height keeping the parameters MS antenna
height and T-R separation constant. It is noted that path loss
is decreasing due to increase in BTS antenna height for both
models. However path loss continues to be low in COST-
231 model.
Figure 2 evaluates the path loss by varying MS Antenna
height and fixing the other two parameters. As MS antenna
height is increased, the path loss is decreased in this case.
Figure 3 illustrates the change in path loss upon change
in T-R antenna separation distance. It is observed that the
path loss is less up to 4 km radial distance for COST-231
model while the path loss is more beyond 4 km separation
distance.
In cases 1 and 2 the path loss is low for both the models
and in case 3 the trend is different beyond 4 kilometers
separation between transmitter and receiver. Hence COST-
231 model may be preferred to design cellular network
where the cell radius is less than 4 km. Hence this model is
preferred for densely populated urban areas where call
traffic is high.
240
Hata
Ikegami
220
200
Path loss (dB)
180
160
140
120
100
0 2 4 6
Distance Between Base-station and Mobile-station (km.)
Figure 3. Path loss due to the change in T-R separation.
5. Conclusions
In this paper, two widely known large scale propagation
models are studied and analyzed. The analysis and
simulation was done to find out the path loss by varying the
BTS antenna height, MS antenna height, and the T-R
separation. Cost-231 Walfisch Ikegami model was seen to
represent low power loss levels in the curves. The result of
this analysis will help the network designers to choose the
proper model in the field applications. Further up-gradation
in this result can be possible for the higher range of carrier
frequency.
(IJCNS) International Journal of Computer and Network Security,
Vol. 2, No. 10, 2010
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Authors’ Profile
Y.Ramakrishna is currently a research
student under Dr. P. V. Subbaiah. He
received M.Tech. degree in Microwave
Engineering from Acharya Nagarjuna
University, India in 2005. He received
B.E. degree in Electronics and
Communication Engineering from the
University of Madras, India in 2002. He
is presently working as Senior Assistant Professor in the
Department of Electronics and Communication
Engineering, PVP Siddhartha Institute of Technology,
Vijayawada, India. His research interests are: Mobile
 (IJCNS) International Journal of Computer and Network Security, 17
Vol. 2, No. 10, 2010
Communications, Smart Antennas, Satellite
Communications.
Dr. P. V. Subbaiah received his
Ph.D. in Microwave Antennas from
JNT University, India 1995, His
Master‘s degree in Control Systems
from Andhra University, India 1982.
He received B.E. degree in Electronics
and Commu-nication Engineering
from Bangalore University in 1980. He
is currently working as Principal in Amrita Sai Institute of
Science and Technology, Vijayawada, India since 2007. His
research interest includes Microwave Antennas, Optical
Communications and Mobile Communications.

V. Ratnakumari received M.Tech.

degree in Microwave Engineering
from Acharya Nagarjuna University,
India in 2008. She received B.Tech.
degree in Electronics and
Communication Engineering from
JNT University, India in 2005. She is
presently working as Assistant
Professor in the Department of
Electronics and Communication Engineering, PVP
Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Vijayawada, India. Her
research interests are: Mobile communications and Signal
Processing.