Signal strength measurements at 915 MHz and 1920 MHz in an outdoor microcell environment

Abstract

Signal strength measurements were conducted for unmodulated tones at 91 5 MHz and 1920 MHz in order to characterize the behavior of narrowband signals in an outdoor microcell environment. Distances between the base and the mobile up to 400 m, with base antenna heights of 3.5 m and 7 m were covered. The mobile antenna height was 2 m. The propagation data was collected in three different environments, representative of residential, business, and dowtown areas. The raw data is presented in the form of received signal strength vs. distance. The analyzed data includes mean path losses, quantiles, excess path losses, and statistical characterization of the fading channel. Principal conclusions were: differential mean path losses between 915 MHz and 1920 MHz were higher than expected, typically between 8 db to 15 dB. Shadowing losses observed had sigmas between 3.6 dB and 6.2 dB, which are lower than those typically encountered in cellular radio.

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“…For short distance which 40 meter or less, this is not strictly correct and less approximation between the base and the mobile because of the dependence of the antenna patterns on elevation angle. This value only can be excellent approximation when the distance greater than 40 meter [11].…”