Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

EEE 438 : Wireless Communication Laboratory

Experiment 3
Wireless Propagation Path-Loss Modeling using Measurements
for Indoor Communication Systems

Theory:
Path-loss in a communication channel is defined as the ratio of the transmit power to the receive power.
From an estimated path-loss, coverage range of a communication system can be approximated. From
Friis free space propagation equation, path-loss is deterministic and can be given by in far-field region
(df = 2D2/λ, df >> D, df >> λ, D is the largest physical dimension of the antenna) as below

(1)
However, wireless channel is random in nature due to non-additive fading and additive noise resulting in
significant signal variation than that predicted by deterministic model as shown in Fig. 1. The fading
phenomenon can be broadly classified into two different types: large-scale fading and small-scale
fading. They can be further sub-divided as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 1: Path-loss components.

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 Fig. 2: Classification of fading channels.

 Large-scale fading: It represents the average signal power attenuation or the path-loss due to motion
over large areas. This phenomenon is affected by prominent terrain contours (hills, forests,
billboards, clumps of buildings, and so on) between the transmitter and the receiver. The receiver is
often said to be “shadowed” by such prominences. The statistics of large-scale fading provide a way
of computing an estimate of path loss as a function of distance. This is described in terms of a mean-
path loss and a log-normally distributed variation about the mean.
 Small-scale fading: It refers to the dramatic changes in signal amplitude and phase that can be
experienced as a result of small changes (as small as a half wavelength) in the spatial positioning
between a receiver and a transmitter. Small-scale fading manifests itself in two mechanisms: time-
spreading of the signal (or signal dispersion) and time-variant behavior of the channel. For mobile-
radio applications, the channel is time-variant, because motion between the transmitter and the
receiver results in propagation path changes. Channel can also changes due to the motion of objects
(e.g., vehicles, pedestrians) in the channel. The rate of change of these propagation conditions
accounts for the fading rapidity (rate of change of the fading impairments).

There exists many empirical path-loss models for various channel environments in literature. In this
experiment, we will conduct experiments for deriving a path-loss model for an indoor-environment. The
indoor radio basic transmission loss is characterized by both an average basic transmission loss and its
associated shadow fading statistics. The basic model developed by the ITU-R has the following form
[1]:

(2)

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The ITU-R indoor path-loss model between an indoor transmitter and an user equipment (UE) separated
by a distance d (m) at frequency f MHz transforms to

(3)

Eq. (3) actually represents the average path-loss at a distance d. Considering shadow fading, total path-
loss becomes

PLshadow(d) = PL(d) + Xσ (4)

where shadow-fading Xσ is modeled as a log-normally distributed random variable with mean = 0 dB

and standard deviation = σ dB.

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(1) 60 GHz and 70 GHz values assume propagation within a single room or space, and do not include any allowance for
transmission through walls. Gaseous absorption around 60 GHz is also significant for distances greater than about 100 m
which may influence frequency reuse distances (see Recommendation ITU-R P.676).
(2) Apartment: Single or double storey dwellings for several households. In general most walls separating rooms are concrete
walls.
(3) House: Single or double storey dwellings for a household. In general most walls separating rooms are wooden walls.
(4) Computer room where there are many computers around the room.
(5) Transmitter and receiver are on the same floor and both antennas are set at ceiling height of 2.7 m.

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(6) Path between transmitter and receiver is semi-shielded by metal materials and both antennas height is 1.5 m.
(7) Transmit and receive antennas have 15.4° beam width.
(8) Railway station (170 m × 45 m × 21 m(H)) and Airport terminal (650 m × 82 m × 20 m(H)): NLOS case, 60° half-power
beam width antenna for transmitter is set at the height of 8 m, and 10° beam width for receiver is set at 1.5 m on the floor.
The value was obtained from the maximum path gain among various Tx and Rx antenna orientations.
(9) Transmitter and receiver are on LOS corridor.
(10) Transmit antenna beamwidth 56.3º, synthesised 360º in azimuth at receiver with 19.7º beamwidth in elevation.
(11) Transmit antenna beamwidth 40º, synthesised 360º in azimuth at receiver with 14.4º beamwidth in elevation.
(12) The upper number is for LOS cases and the lower number is for NLOS cases.
(13) The environments are same to (8) and a Tx antenna with 60˚ beamwidth is set at the height of 8 m and a Rx with an
omnidirectional antenna is set at the height of 1.5 m.
(14) Open office (50 m × 16 m × 2.7 m (H)): LOS case. Averaged results with Tx heights of 2.6 and 1.2 m. Rx height was 1.5
m height. Both Tx and Rx are omnidirectional antennas.
(15) Transmit and received antennas have 10° beamwidth.
(16) Transmit and received antennas have 8° beamwidth.
(17) Transmit and received antennas have 7° beamwidth.
(18) Tx beamwidth is 18o, Rx: omnidirectional.

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Components, meters and equipment:
Transmitting antenna-1 no, receiving antenna-1 no, Unit oscillator-1 no, Regulated power supply-1no,
IF amplifier–1 no, Mixture rectifier- 1no.

Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup:

Transmitting Receiving
Antenna Antenna

Received
Signal Input

Unit oscillator Mixer Rectifier IF Amplifier

Variable frequency

power supply to
local Oscillator
Unit power supply Unit local (LO)
Oscillator (LO)

Fig. 3: Experimental setup

Sample Experimental Environment:

Fig. 4: Line of sight (LOS) scenario.

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 Fig. 5: The non-line of sight (NLOS) scenario.

Procedure:
(In this experiment, we will ignore the floor penetration loss.)
1. First perform the experiment for LOS environment. Measure receive power at each position for at
least 10 times. The more readings (preferably, 1000 independent measurements) you take at a position,
the more accurate will be the modeling.
2. Repeat Step 1 for NLOS environment.

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Sample Results:

Fig. 6: Path loss versus distance for the LOS and NLOS scenarios [2].

Table: Derived path-loss model

Scenario Curve fitted model σ (dB) N
LOS 0.93 1.95

NLOS 2.748 2.8

Fig. 7: Probability density function (PDF) of Rx power for (a) LOS and (b) NLOS scenarios at a
distance of 6m.

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 Table: Measured standard deviation of shadow fading (0~15 m) for LOS.

Table: Measured standard deviation of shadow fading (0~15 m) for NLOS.

Report:
1) From the experimental data, derive all the results similar to the sample results presented above.
2) Thoroughly compare the derived results with those obtained in References [1] and [2].
3) Explain why channel modeling is important for wireless communication systems.
4) Explain why a large standard deviation in shadow fading is detrimental for wireless communication
systems.
5) Discuss the two common statistical models used for describing the small-scale fading due to multi-
path propagation.
6) List the various existing channel models popularly used for designing wireless communication
systems.

References:
[1] Recommendation ITU-R P.1238-10, "Propagation data and prediction methods for the planning of
indoor radio communication systems and radio local area networks in the frequency range 300 MHz to
450 GHz,", Aug 2019.
[2] G. Y. Liu, T. Y. Chang, Y. C. Chiang, P. C. Lin and J. Mar, "Path Loss Measurements of Indoor
LTE System for the Internet of Things," Applied Science, vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 1-8, 2017.

Prepared by:
Dr. Md. Farhad Hossain
Professor
Department of EEE, BUET

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