ETE 424/EEE 424

Mobile and Wireless Communications

Dr. Arshad M. Chowdhury
Associate Professor

Dept. of Electrical and Computer
Engineering
North South University


Chapter 4 Mobile Radio Propagation: Large-
Scale Path Loss
Non Line of Sight (NLOS)
Three basic propagation mechanisms in addition
to line-of-sight paths
Reflection - Waves bouncing off of objects of large
dimensions
Diffraction - Waves bending around sharp edges of
objects
Scattering - Waves traveling through a medium with
small objects in it (foliage, street signs, lamp posts, etc.)
or reflecting off rough surfaces
Reflections
Reflection occurs when RF energy is incident upon a boundary
between two materials (e.g. air/ground) with different electrical
characteristics
Example: reflections from earth and buildings
These reflections may interfere with the original signal constructively
or destructively
Upon reflection or transmission, a ray attenuates by factors that depend
on the frequency, the angle of incidence, and the nature of the medium
(its material properties, thickness homogeneity, etc.)
The amount of reflection depends on the reflecting material.
Smooth metal surfaces of good electrical conductivity are efficient reflectors of
radio waves.
The surface of the Earth itself is a fairly good reflector.
Fresnel reflection coefficient
describes the magnitude of reflected RF energy
depends upon material properties, polarization, & angle of incidence







Ground Reflection (2-Ray) Model
In a mobile radio channel, a single direct path between the
base station and mobile is rarely the only physical path for
propagation

Free space propagation model in most cases is inaccurate
when used alone

2 Ray Ground Reflection Model: considers both- direct path
and ground reflected propagation path between transmitter
and receiver
Reasonably accurate for predicting large scale signal strength over
distances of several kilometers for mobile radio systems using tall
towers (above 50 m )
Ground Reflection (2-Ray) Model
The maximum T-R separation distance ( In most mobile systems ) is
only a few tens of kms, and the earth may be assumed to be flat.
E
TOT
is the electric field that results from a combination of a direct
line-of-sight path and a ground reflected path
E
TOT
= E
LOS
+ E
g


is the amplitude of the electric field at
distance d
6
E
TOT
is the electric field that results from a combination of a direct
line-of-sight path and a ground reflected path

c
= 2f
c
where f
c
is the carrier frequency of the signal

At different distances d the wave is at a different phase
Method of image
The method of images is used to find the path difference
between the line-of-sight and the ground reflected paths
h
t
: Transmitter height,
h
r
: Receiver height
d: horizontal distance between T-R
d: Line of sight path distance between T-R
d : ground reflected path distance between T-R

For the direct path let d = d ; for the reflected path d = d
then


for large TR separation :
i
goes to 0 (angle of incidence to
the ground of the reflected wave) and
= 1

Phase difference can occur depending on the phase
difference between direct and reflected E fields
The phase difference is

due to Path difference ,
= d d, between
8
can be expanded using a Taylor series expansion

9
which works well for d >> (h
t
+ h
r
), which means
and are small
10
11
The phase difference between the two arriving signals is
u
A
= (2tA)/ = Ae
c
/c

The time delay between the arrival component,
t
d
= A/c = u
A
/(2tf
c
)
For large d, the difference between d and d becomes very small.
d = d = d
Amplitude of E
los
and E
g
are virtually identical and differ only in phase

E
TOT
(d, t = d/c) =
E
o
d
o
d

cos( e
c
( ))
d d

c

E
o
d
o
d

cos( 0
0
)
-
At time t = d/c, total E-field is:
E
o
d
o
d

E
o
d
o
d

Zu
A

-
=
E
o
d
o
d

[ Zu
A
- 1 ]
=
12
Phasor diagram showing the electric field component of
the LOS and ground reflected and total received E-fields
u
A
E
0
d
0
/d
E
0
d
0
/d
E
TOT

,E
TOT
(d), =
-
(cos (u
A
- 1)
2

E
o
d
o
d

( )

2
E
o
d
o
d

sin
2
u
A

( )

2
\
=
0 0
0 0
2
( ) 2 sin
2
2
0.3 rad
2
2
( ) 2 V/m
TOT
r t
r t
TOT
E d
E t
d
h h
d
E d h h k
E t
d d d
u
t u

A
A
| |
=
|
\ .
~ <
~ ~
For u
A
/2 < 0.3 radians, sin(u
A
/2) ~ u
A
/2
Again, u
A
= (2tA)/ and A = 2h
t
h
r
/d
2th
t
h
r
d

~
u
A
2

< 0.3 radians
This will hold for the condition,
13
E
TOT
(d) ~ 2
E
o
d
o
d

2th
t
h
r
d

~
k

d
2
d >
20t h
t
h
r
3

~
20 h
t
h
r

As long as
holds true
The total received E-field at distance d can be approximated as:
V/m
K is a constant related to E
0
, antenna heights, and the wavelength
Power received at distance d is proportional to the square of
the E-field amplitude
P
r
(d) ~ P
t
G
t
G
r

h
t
2
h
r
2
d
4
For large distances (d >> \ (h
t
h
r
) ) , the received power falls off with
distance raised to the fourth power, or at a rate of 40dB/decade
14
P
r
(d) ~ P
t
G
t
G
r

h
t
2
h
r
2
d
4
The path loss of Two-ray model:
P
t
P
r
=
d
4
G
t
G
r
h
t
2
h
r
2
PL =
PL (dB) = 40Log(d) - [10Log(G
t
)+10 Log(G
r
)+20 Log(h
t
)+20 Log(h
r
)
In a two-ray model, the received power at a distance d greater than the
reference distance d
0
is:
Compared to the Free-space model:
Power received at distance d is:
P
r
(d) (watts) = P
r
(d
0
)
2
0
|
|
.
|

\
|
d
d
Example 3

A mobile is located 5 km away from a base station and uses a
vertical /4 monopole antenna with a gain of 2.55 dB to receive
cellular radio signals. The E-field at 1 km from the transmitter is
measured to be 10
-3
V/m. The carrier frequency used for this
system is 900 MHz

(a) Find the length and the gain of the receiving antenna

(b) Find the received power at the mobile using the 2-ray ground
reflection model assuming the height of the transmitting
antenna is 50 m and the receiving antenna is 1.5 m above
ground.


Given:
T-R separtion distance, d = 5 km
Reference distance d
0
= 1km
E-field at d
0
= 10
-3
V/m
Operating frequency, f = 900 MHz
wavelength, = c/f = (3x10
8
)/ (900x10
6
) = 0.333 m

a) The length of the monopole antenna = /4 = 0.333/4 = 0.0833m
= 8.33cm
The antenna gain, G is related to the effective aperture, A
e
:
G = (4t A
e
)/
2
Gain, G = 2.55 dB = 1.8 and wavelength, = 0.333m
Effective Aperture Area, A
e
= 1.8 x (0.333)
2
/ 4t = 0.016 m
2

b) Height of transmitter antenna, h
t
= 50m
Height of receiver antenna, h
r
= 1.5 m
T-R distance, d = 5 km
\(h
t
h
r
) = \ (50x1.5) = 8.66 m
since, d >> \(h
t
h
r
), the E-field at distance d = 5 km is:

E
TOT
(d) ~ 2
E
o
d
o
d

2th
t
h
r
d

~
k

d
2
V/m
E
TOT
(d) =
2 x (10
-3
)x (1x10
3
)
(5x10
3
)
[
]
2x 3.14x 50x 1.5
(0.333)x(5x10
3
)
E
TOT
(d) = 113.1x10
-6
v/m
The received power at distance, d is given by:

Pr(d) = P
d
(d). A
e
=


, E
TOT
,
2
120 t
. A
e

=
( 113.1x10
-6
)
2
x 0.016
120 t
= 5.4 x 10
-13
W = -122.68 dBW = -92 dBm
Diffraction
Occurs when the radio path between sender and receiver is obstructed
by an impenetrable body and by a surface with sharp irregularities
(edges)
The received field strength decreases rapidly as a receiver moves
deeper into the obstructed (shadowed) region, the diffraction field still
exists and often has sufficient strength to produce a useful signal.
Diffraction explains how radio signals can travel urban and rural
environments without a line-of-sight path

Diffraction
Phenomenon of diffraction can be explained by Huygen's principle
All points on a wave front can be considered as point sources for
the production of secondary wavelets
these 'wavelets combine to produce a new wave front in the
direction of propagation
The field strength of a diffracted wave in the shadowed region is
the vector sum of the electric field components of all the secondary
wavelets in the space around the obstacle.



excess path length : The difference between the direct path and
diffracted path


Fresnel-Kirchoff diffraction parameter


The corresponding phase difference
20
The diffraction gain due to the presence of a knife edge, as
compared the the free space E-field
E
0
: Electric field in free space
E
d
: Electric field in the presence of
Knife-edge
21
Scattering
The medium which the wave travels consists of objects with
dimensions smaller than the wavelength and where the number of
obstacles per unit volume is large rough surfaces, small objects,
foliage, street signs, lamp posts.
Received signal strength is often stronger than that predicted by
reflection/diffraction models alone

22
The EM wave incident upon a rough or
complex surface is scattered in
many directions and provides more
energy at a receiver energy that would
have been absorbed is instead
reflected to the Rx.
flat surface EM reflection (one
direction)
rough surface EM scattering (many
directions)
Propagation Models
Large scale models predict behavior averaged over
distances much larger than wavelength
Function of distance & significant environmental
features, roughly frequency independent
Breaks down as distance decreases
Useful for modeling the range of a radio system and
rough capacity planning
To predict large scale coverage using analytical and
empirical (field data) methods are used
Various path loss models for indoor/outdoor wireless
communications
Log Distance Path Loss Models
The Log-Distance path loss model is given as:
P
r
( )
1
d
n
Where n is the path loss exponent. For free-space propagation
model, n = 2 and for two-ray model, n = 4
At a reference point d
o
with received power P
0
P
r

P
0

[ ]

d
0
d
n
[ ]

d

d
0
-n
= =
Reference
point
Point of
measure
It has been repeatedly measured and found that Pr @ Rx decreases
logarithmically with distance
Typical large-scale path loss

26
Log Distance Path loss does not consider the surrounding
environmental impacts
Shadowing occurs when objects block LOS between TX and RX
A simple statistical model can account for unpredictable shadowing
Log-Normal Shadowing:
PL (d) = PL (d
o
) + 10 n log (d / d
o
) + X

describes how the path loss at any specific location may vary from
the average value
Includes the large-scale path loss component plus a random
amount X

.
X

: zero mean Gaussian random variable

is the standard deviation that provides the second parameter for
the distribution
n & are computed from measured data for different area types
Log-Normal Shadowing Model
27
Measured large-scale path loss
Check Example 4.9
Okumura Model
It is one of the most widely used models for signal prediction in
urban areas, and it is applicable for frequencies in the range 150
MHz to 1920 MHz
Based totally on measurements (not analytical calculations)
Applicable in the range: 150MHz to ~ 2000MHz, 1km to 100km
T-R separation, Antenna heights of 30m to 100m
Okumura Model
The major disadvantage with the model is its low response to rapid
changes in terrain, therefore the model is fairly good in urban areas,
but not as good in rural areas.
Common standard deviations between predicted and measured
path loss values are around 10 to 14 dB.
m 30 m 1000
200
log 20 ) ( > >
|
.
|

\
|
=
te
te
te
h
h
h G
m 3
3
log 10 ) ( s
|
.
|

\
|
=
re
re
re
h
h
h G
m 3 m 10
3
log 20 ) ( > >
|
.
|

\
|
=
re
re
re
h
h
h G
Median Attenuation and Correction Factors
Please see Example 4:10 to understand the usage of
these charts
Hata Model
Empirical formulation of the graphical data in the Okamura model.
Valid 150MHz to 1500MHz, Used for cellular systems
The following classification was used by Hata:
Urban area
Suburban area
Open area

E d B A L
dB
+ = log
C d B A L
dB
+ = log
D d B A L
dB
+ = log
b
h f A 82 . 13 log 16 . 26 55 . 69 + =
b
h B log 55 . 6 9 . 44 =
94 . 40 log 33 . 18 ) 28 / log( 78 . 4
2
+ + = f f D
4 . 5 )) 28 / (log( 2
2
+ = f C
MHz f h E
m
300 cities, large for 97 . 4 )) 75 . 11 (log( 2 . 3
2
> =
MHz f h E
m
300 cities, large for 1 . 1 )) 54 . 1 (log( 29 . 8
2
< =
cities small to medium for ) 8 . 0 log 56 . 1 ( ) 7 . 0 log 11 . 1 ( = f h f E
m
PCS Extension of Hata Model
COST-231 Hata Model, European standard
Extension to 1500MHz to 2000 MHz
Smaller cell sizes
Lower antenna heights
G E d B F L
dB
+ + = log
b
h f F log 82 . 13 log 9 . 33 3 . 46 + =
f >1500MHz
0
3
= G
Metropolitan centers
Medium sized city and suburban areas