Cellular Communications Coverage Prediction Techniques: A Survey and Comparison

Abstract

A lot of effort and time is utilized in the planning and building of the cellular wireless networks to use minimum infrastructural components to provide the best network coverage as well as delivery of quality of service. Generally, path loss models are used for the prediction of wireless network coverage. Therefore, detailed knowledge of the appropriate path loss model suitable for the proposed geographical area is needed to determine the coverage quality of any wireless network design. However, to the best of our knowledge, despite the importance of path loss models, as used for the prediction of wireless network coverage, there doesn't exist any comprehensive survey in this field. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to survey the existing techniques and mechanisms which can be addressed in this domain. Briefly, the contributions of this paper are: (1) providing a comprehensive and up to date survey of the various network coverage prediction techniques, indicating the different frequency ranges the models were developed, (2) the different suitable terrains for each of the model and the best suit mobile generation were presented, and lastly, (3) providing comparative analysis to aid the planning and implementation of the cellular networks. INDEX TERMS Path loss model, prediction, wireless, propagation scenarios, mobile generations, signal. I. INTRODUCTION The remarkable changes experienced by the development of mobile communication system over the last few years has led to severe challenges to the planning of mobile wireless networks. This fruition journey of the first-Generation (1G) network started back in the year 1979 and has progressed to the presently explored Fifth Generation (5G) network. Each new generation is usually built upon the present generation's needs, which led to research and development for a better technology that will accommodate the needs, capacities, proper availability to the end-user. With this exponential increase in the use of mobile-connected devices as well as the constant expansion of mobile communication networks, the effective provision of the coverage of the mobile networks is imperative for the delivery of quality of service (QoS) [1]. Radio propagation can be defined as the behaviour of radio waves experienced while signals are transmitted from one point to another [2]. Such phenomena like absorptions, reflections, scattering, refractions, among others, affect the radio wave [3]. Therefore, mobile network coverage prediction is a vital and essential task in the planning and deployment of cellular technology.

5G Mobile Communication Applications: A Survey and Comparison of Use Cases

“…The demand for mobile communications usage by consumers has been increasing, with the need for higher data rate, lower latency, improved performance, availability, among others. Unfortunately, the present spectrums allocated for the present mobile communications networks cannot support these exponential increases [5]. The importance of spectrums choice, requirements as well as the considerations were discussed in this section.…”

“…However, the higher frequencies tend to have a tremendous amount of spectrum and very broad transmission bandwidths for dense capacity deployment but with higher attenuation and various implementation challenges [59]. Planning a wireless deployment requires stringent planning and using the appropriate path loss model [5].…”

“…These require different system requirements for performance measurement. Likewise, Mobile networks function on various spectrums ranging from 450 MHz to 60 GHz, with different spectrums used for the different mobile generations [5].…”

“…The parameters used are stated in Table XXII. The Alpha-Beta-Gamma (ABG) [5] path loss model (equation ( 11)) was selected for modeling the mmWave channel, the parameter values were assumed and extracted from the manuscripts [160]- [164] The average channel capacity for each of the spectrum in terms of "low-band, mid-band, and high-band" are simulated and compared. The parameters used for evaluating the MIMO channel capacity are stated in Table XXII, which included the transmitter power, antenna heights for both UE and BS, path loss model, and the different frequency used.…”

“…With this massive and exponential increase of data usage and the connectivity of a large number of mobileconnected devices, significant pressure has been placed on mobile service providers and the research community to find ways to provide high data rates and rendering good quality of service (QoS) at affordable rates [4]. This demand can only be met by advancing to new technologies, that is, the fifthgeneration (5G) mobile communications [5], [6], to provide such wireless systems and services to various subscribers. 5G is the future of mobile communications standards that advanced the present 4G networks, which will conform with the requirements of the International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020) standards established by the ITU-R (radio section of the International Telecommunications Union) [7].…”