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>> Planet General Model

Technical Note
for Mentum Planet version 5.4

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Planet General Model Technical Note

Introduction
The Planet General Model is a good propagation model to use for macro-cell planning. It is best used for frequencies between 150 and 2000 MHz where the distance between the transmitter and the receiver ranges between 1 and 100 kilometers. Ideally, when using this model, the base station antenna heights should range between 30 and 1000 meters and the mobile station antenna heights should be between 1 and 10 meters. How the Planet General Model was originally implemented in Planet DMS and how this model has been implemented in Mentum Planet differ. On one hand, when Planet DMS performs predictions, it calculates the path loss for each pixel or element within the prediction area by calculating a terrain profile from the base site to that element. The profile is used by the propagation model to calculate the path loss to that point. Predictions do not include losses or gains due to antenna masks. This allows real time masking of antennas each time the prediction is loaded. The height profiles have been compensated for the effect of the Earths curvature. A radius of 4/3rds of the Earths true radius (4/3 x 6300km = 8400 km) is often used, although this can be changed in the Planet DMS Model Editor. On the other hand, when Mentum Planet performs predictions, it calculates a prediction for each pixel along radials in the prediction area. Then, using interpolation, Mentum Planet generates predictions in the prediction area on a per pixel basis. This results in better control of the calculation time/accuracy ratio; however, for this reason, there may be slight differences between the results generated by Planet DMS and those generated by Mentum Planet. To minimize these differences, you can increase the number of radials used in the prediction.

Technical Note

Standard propagation model

The received signal strength at the mobile is given by the following equation.
P RX = P TX + K 1 + K 2 log ( d ) + K 3 log ( H eff ) + K 4 Diffraction + K 5 log ( H eff ) log ( d ) + K 6 ( H meff ) + K CLUTTER Where P RX P TX K1 K2

is the receive power in dBm is the transmit power (ERP) in dBm.

is the constant offset in dB. is the multiplying factor for log(d).

With the two piece model, both K1 and K2 can be assigned two sets of values. One set is used for d< distance and the other for d> distance, where distance is the distance in meters away from the base site specified in the Model Editor.
K 3 is the multiplying factor for log( H eff ). It compensates for gain due to antenna height. K4 K5 K6

is the multiplying factor for diffraction calculation. is the Okumura-Hata type of multiplying factor for log ( H eff ) log ( d ) . is correction factor for the mobile effective antenna height gain ( K 6 H eff ). is the effective height of base site antenna from ground.

d is the distance, in meters, of the receiver from the base site. Diffraction is the value calculated for loss due to diffraction over an obstructed path. The value produced is a negative number so a positive multiplication factor, K 4 is required.
K CLUTTER is the gain in dB for the clutter type at the mobile position in Planet DMS. In Mentum Planet, K CLUTTER represents a loss. H meff H eff

is the mobile effective antenna height.

Planet General Model Technical Note

Effective antenna heights

Effective antenna height at the transmitter
The effective antenna height ( H eff ) in meters described in the previous equation may be calculated from any one of the following variables:

Base height Spot height Average height Slope Ground Reflection Slope Profile Absolute spot height

Base height

Effective antenna height ( H eff ) is set equal to the base site height above ground.
Spot height
If H 0b > H 0m then H eff = H b + H 0b H 0m

If H 0b H 0m then H eff = H b Where Hb H 0b H 0m

is the antenna height above ground at the base site. is the terrain height above sea level at the base site. is the terrain height above sea level at the mobile site.

Average height

The average height is defined as the height of the base site antenna above the average terrain height, calculated over the total area of the prediction. The effective antenna height ( H eff ) is set equal to average height. In Mentum Planet, the average height is a user-defined value.
Slope

The effective height of the antenna is calculated using the slope of the terrain over a specified distance up to the antenna. Figure 1 on page 6 displays the slope algorithm.

Technical Note

The slope algorithm is

H eff = ( h 1 h 2 ) + ( K d )
Where h1 h2

is the ground height at transmitter + antenna height. is the ground height at receiver + mobile height.

d is the distance, in meters, of receiver from base site. K is the slope. This is calculated over a user specified distance ds from the mobile towards the base station using the difference in height over that range.

ds

Tx Heff h1 Rx h2

Slope K

Figure 1 Slope algorithm for effective antenna height

Ground Reflection Slope

The effective height of the antenna is calculated using the slope of the terrain at the ground reflection point closest to the receiver. The calculation automatically imposes a limit of 0.8 to 4 times the height of the base station antenna. The values specified for the Minimum Height and Maximum Height have no effect on the calculation if they are not within these limits. If the line of sight between the transmitting and receiving antennas is obstructed, the height of the base station antenna above ground is used.

Planet General Model Technical Note

Profile

The profile algorithm calculates an average height along the profile between the transmitter and receiver. Heff can be calculated in three ways:

using CCIR recommendations using the Okumura calculations using user-defined start and end points for the profile

Using CCIR recommendations

There are three conditions for the distance between the point under consideration and the antenna:

less than 3 km between 3 and 15 km greater than 15 km

(i) Distance to the antenna is less than 3 km

H eff = H transmitter + H ground Where H transmitter

is the antenna height on the mast.

The effective antenna height is the height of the antenna above the ground. An antenna mounted 30 m up on a mast at a ground height of 20 m would confer a Heff of 50 m on any pixel within 3 km along any profile. (ii) Distance to the antenna is between 3 km and 15 km
H eff = H transmitter + H ground averageheight

Technical Note Where H transmitter H ground

is the antenna height on the mast

is the height or DTM height of the base above sea level

sum of pixel heights along profile from 3km to distant point ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------number of pixels along this profile

average height is given by:

(iii) If distance to antenna is greater than 15 km, the equation for effective antenna height is identical to that in (ii) above. However, average height is now given by:
sum of pixel hights along profile from 3km to 15km ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------number of pixels along this profile

Okumura calculations for effective antenna height

Effective antenna height is given by the same equation as CCIR (ii) above. Again, the expression for the average height varies with the distance as follows. (i) The distance to the antenna is between 3 km and 15 km. average height is given by
sum of pixel heights along profile from base of antenna to po -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------number of pixels along this point

(ii) The distance to the antenna is greater than 15 km. For all points over 15 km, the average height between 3 km and 15 km is used. average height is therefore
sum of pixel heights along profile from 3 km to 15 km ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------number of pixels along this profile

User-defined start/end points

You can define the start and end points of the profile, in kilometers from the antenna base.

Planet General Model Technical Note

Absolute spot height

This algorithm uses the equation: H eff = H b + H 0b H 0m The absolute value of H 0b H 0m is used. Effective antenna height is not limited to Hb as the mobile height ( H 0m ) goes above the base height ( H 0b ).

Effective antenna height at the mobile

The standard propagation model uses the mobile effective antenna height together with a linear correction factor ( K 6 ).

H meff = ( h 0m + hm ) h 0b
The following figure shows how these heights are calculated.
base mobile h0b hm h0m

Figure 2 Effective antenna height at the mobile

Obstruction loss equations

Calculating obstruction loss
The prediction routine creates a height path profile between the base site and mobile and calculates the obstruction position as shown in Figure 3 (in this case only one obstruction is shown). A straight line between base site and mobile is shown and the height of the obstruction above this line, c i is calculated. The obstruction position, d i is also recorded. From these variables, v i , the argument of the Fresnel integral is calculated.

2d v i = c i -------------------------di ( d di )

Technical Note

Where is the wavelength and d is the terrain slope distance. A value of v i less than -0.8 indicates sufficient clearance for the Fresnel zone is obtained over the whole path. The path loss equation for line of sight is used. Where a loss is indicated, the Fresnel integral is used.
2 1 +j E----- = ---------- e ( j ( 2 ) )v dv 2 E0

vi

This is an integral and stored as a lookup table for values of - 0.8 vi < 2.0 and the loss is calculated from.

EP LOSS = 20 log ----E0

Where the value of vi is greater than or equal to 2.0, an approximation is used.

0.225 E----- = -----------vi E0

For multiple diffraction edges, this knife edge diffraction calculation is applied to each edge in turn and the result in dB is summed. The following figure shows terrain with two obstructions, edge A and B. The variables ci , d i and d are used in the diffraction equation as before.
Edge A ci Edge B

di d Base Site Figure 3 Obstruction Loss, Edge A Mobile

For edge B, the variables cb , d am and d ab are similarly used, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 4 Obstruction Loss, Edge B

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Planet General Model Technical Note

Edge A Edge B cb

dab dam Base Site Mobile

Path loss lookup table

The following table is the look-up table used in calculating the path losses, in dB. For intermediate values, the loss is linearly interpolated.
Table 1.1 Path loss vi -0.8 -0.7 -0.6 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 Ploss 0.0 -0.46 -1.13 -1.86 -2.64 -3.45 -4.29 -5.15 -6.02 -6.90 -7.74 -8.59 -9.42 -10.23 -11.03 -11.77 -12.50 -13.15

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Technical Note Table 1.1 Path loss (continued) vi 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 Ploss -13.85 -14.52 -15.09 -15.70 -16.25 -16.77 -17.27 -17.79 -18.20 -18.63 -18.94

Troposcatter model
The troposcatter model is generally used in the Planet DMS Microwave tool. It is set when the Use the Troposcatter Model check box in the Planet DMS Model Editor is selected and the distance between the transmitter and the point at which loss is calculated is greater than the transition distance, dt . Where dt = dh, when dh > 90.3953 Otherwise, dt = dhata
Where

dh =
and
dh a0

a0 2 ----------- ( h pcs + h mw ) 1000

is the transhorizon distance in km. is the effective earth radius in km.

h pcs and h mw PCS and MW Receiver antenna heights above average terrain.This applies if the height is greater than 5m, otherwise it is set at 5.

d hata = 115 + 105 log d h

Where

dhata is the Hata Merge Distance in km.

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Planet General Model Technical Note

The hourly median troposcatter loss 50% of the time is given by

L 50 = M + 30 log ( f ) + 10 log ( d ) + 30 log ( ) + N ( H, h )

Where

L50 is the hourly median transmission loss 50% of the time (dB). f is the frequency (MHz). d is the path length (km). (d-dh)/8.5 (milliradians) - dh is defined above. and

N ( H, h ) = 20 log ( 5 + H ) + 4.343h
Where

H equals d/4000. h equals 10-62a0/8 km. a0 is the effective earth radius in km. M is the meteorological structure parameter; this value depends on the climate type which you select in the Model Editor. The values for each climate type are given in the table below. is the atmospheric structure parameters; this value depends on the climate type which you select in the Model Editor. The values for each climate type are given in the following table.
Climate M (dB) 1 39.60 0.33 2 29.73 0.27 3 19.30 0.32 4 38.50 0.27 6 29.73 0.27 7a 33.20 0.27 7b 26.00 0.27

(km-1)

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Technical Note

The climate types are:

Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Type 6 Type 7a Type 7b Equatorial Continental sub-tropical Maritime sub-tropical Desert Continental Temperate Maritime Temperate, over land Maritime Temperate, over sea

For confidence levels q above 50%, the loss becomes:

L q = L 50 + c q L 90
Where

L 90 = 2.2 ( 8.1 2.3 10 f )e

and cq is taken from the following table:
q cq 50 0 80 0.67 90 1 99 1.82

0.137h

99.9 2.41

99.99 2.90

The calculated loss is compared with the Free Space Loss along the path; if the free space loss is greater, this is used rather than the troposcatter loss.

Microwave application
When the troposcatter model is used in a microwave application, for a confidence level q above 50%, the troposcatter loss is calculated as follows:

L q = L 50 + L c c q L 90
Where

L c equals 0.07 exp [ 0.055 ( G T + G R ) ] G T is the antenna gain of transmitter in dBi. G R is the antenna gain of the receiver in dBi.

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Planet General Model Technical Note

Clutter effects
Clutter losses/gains
The loss/gain (referred to from now on as a loss for simplicity) due to clutter is calculated as follows: Receiver
L

Base Station

Clutter losses are considered over a distance L. L is in meters and is definable. For x=0 to n Clutter Loss = K*Fn(Kclutterx)
Where

x=0 is the pixel at the mobile. x=n is the pixel that is L meters away. K is a scaling coefficient (usually set to 1.0). Kclutterx is the clutter loss from the clutter at point x. Fn() is the function for weighting the clutter losses. Currently the functions supplied are:

Rectangular Triangular Logarithmic Exponential

With the rectangular function, each clutter loss has the same weighting. With the others, clutter loss at the receiver has the highest effect. Clutter loss at n has no effect. The triangular function gives a linear decay. Exponential decays quickest near the mobile and logarithmic decays furthest from the mobile.

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Technical Note

Clutter heights
Clutter heights can be added to the terrain height during predictions to calculate the obstructions loss more accurately. The clutter height is not added to the terrain height at the transmitter. Clutter heights are never added at the base station. The clutter separation factor is used to separate the mobile from the surrounding clutter; that is, to prevent the mobile being swamped by the clutter as a result of high diffraction losses. This is achieved as follows: Let the clutter separation be b, the mobile be at point Rx and the point on the profile b meters from Rx be Rb:

Mentum Planet will find the highest clutter height along the profile between Rx and Rb. Let this be hmax. Mentum Planet will not add clutter heights to any points between Rx and Rb. The clutter height added at Rb will be hmax. For the remainder of the profile, clutter heights will be added to terrain heights normally.

So if a transmitter is on top of a building, the antenna height must be set to the true height of the antenna plus the building height. If a clutter category is to be assigned a height then it must also be assigned a mobile-to-clutter edge separation distance as well:

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Planet General Model Technical Note

Physical

hmax

Rx

Rb
Modelled

hmax

b Rx

Rb

Figure 5 Clutter heights

This distance is used to adjust local clutter heights for use in the diffraction calculations. If this value is left at 0.0 the resultant very high diffraction causes wild losses.

17

Technical Note

Correction factors to Okumura and NTT

You can apply correction factors to Okumura/NTT models and to general models.

Effective base station antenna height correction factor (Ht)

This is the effective base station antenna height correction factor: Ht = A(log10hte)2 + B(log10hte) + C
Where

hte is the effective base station antenna height. Calculate this using the Okumura recommendations. A,B,C are the coefficients dependent on d, see below. The table below shows coefficients for the effective height of base station antenna correction factor at several distances.
d (km) 1 3 5 10 20 40 70 A 0.5131 0.2433 0.3690 0.5457 2.568 4.289 4.225 B 11.68 14.42 15.60 17.75 11.89 7.019 4.830 C -23.32 -27.31 -29.94 -34.66 -30.61 -27.66 -23.23

Linear interpolation is used between these values.

Rolling hilly correction factor (Kh)

This is the rolling hilly correction factor:
Kh = -5.180(log10h)2 +3.538(log10h) +3.105

h is the difference in 10% and 90% heights over a distance X along the profile from the receiver to the transmitter.

Where

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Planet General Model Technical Note

10%

h 90%

Figure 6 Rolling hilly correction factor

h> 20m and number of peaks greater than or equal to 3.

You can choose to set the distance X in 3 ways: 1 2 3 Use Okumura recommendations, up to 15km from transmitter. Use CCIR recommendation, 10km to 50km from transmitter in direction of receiver. Define your own start and end points.

Where

Rolling hilly correction fine factor (Khf)

This is the rolling hilly correction fine factor: Khf = -1.4191(log10h)2 + 14.0544(log10h) -10.727 This correction factor is only applied at the top of a hill or at the bottom of a valley.

h is the difference in 10% and 90% heights over a distance X along the profile from the receiver to the transmitter.
Then, at a position of undulation (peak or valley): Khf (position of undulation/m) = Khf/(h/2) where h > 10m Khf (position of undulation/m) = 0.0 where h <= 10m
Then

Where

Khf (position of undulation) = Khf (position of undulation/m) x ((h/2)-h)

Where

19

Technical Note

h is the height at position of undulation. The value of Khf (position of undulation) is the value that should be applied to the propagation equation.

Inclination correction factor (Ksp)

This is only calculated if there is line-of-sight between the base site and the mobile. It calculates the angle of inclination over a distance of 5km from receive point to transmitter as follows:
h =ad +b

hi di 5km Figure 7 Inclination Correction Factor

The equation of the line is given as ha = ad +b (this line is obtained using a least squares fit): m = arctan(a) x 17.4532 (in mrad) Then, if 3 |m| 20 mrad: Ksp = Am2 + Bm + C A, B, C are dependent on d: The table below shows coefficients for inclination correction factor at several distances:
d (km) >60 =30 <10 A -0.009411 -0.013400 -0.002394 B 0.7620 0.6313 0.2057 C 0.22 -0.63 0.12

For other ranges of d, linear interpolation is used.

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Planet General Model Technical Note

Sea/lake edge correction factor (Kse)

If there is water at the side of the mobile: Kse = -0.0011912 +0.2620 + 0.27 for d 60km Kse = Kse30 + Coe(d-30)for 30km<d<60km Coe =(Kse60-Kse30)/(60-30)

Kse = -0.0007892 + 0.1868 +0.06for d 30km

If there is water at the side of the base station: Kse = 0.0004542 +0.1143 +0.27for d 60km Kse = Kse30 + Coe(d-30)for 30km<d<60km Coe =(Kse60-Kse30)/(60-30) where = dsr/d as a percentage.
Base site

Kse = 0.00057952 + 0.06893 - 0.09for d 30km

Mobile

d Figure 8 Sea/lake edge correction factor (Kse)

dsr

Suburban area correction factor (Ksub)

The correction factor for suburban areas is: Ksub = 2 (log10 (fc/28))2
Where

Ksub is the correction value (dB). fc is the frequency in MHz. If Lp is the standard equation for the loss in an urban area in dB then for the suburban area: Lps = Lp - Ksub
Where

Lps is the loss in a suburban area (dB).

21

Technical Note

Open area correction factor (Kopen)

The correction factor for open areas is: Kopen = 4.78 (log10 fc)2 - 18.33 log10 fc + 40.94
Where

Kopen is the correction value (dB). fc is the frequency in MHz. If Lp is the standard equation for the loss in an urban area in dB then for the open area: Lpo = Lp - Kopen
Where

Lpo is the loss in an open area (dB).

Knife edge correction factor (Kim)

The correction factor for knife edge is: Kim = 0.07h (Ad24 + Bd23 + Cd22 + Dd2)
Where

Kim is the correction value (dB). h is the height of knife edge. d2 is the distance from knife edge to mobile (km). d1is the distance from base station to knife edge (km).

height of knife edge Tx Rx

d1 Figure 9 Knife edge correction factor (Kim)

d2

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Planet General Model Technical Note

A, B, C & D are dependant on d1:

d1 (km) >60 =30 <15 A 0.08492 0.06259 0.04980 B -1.677 -1.280 -1.065 C 11.47 9.184 8.102 D -30.41 -25.19 -23.33

Multiple knife edge correction factor (Kmke)

The multiple knife edge correction factor is given by the term, Kmke = -0.031072512Hi +1.39870768 where Hi are knife edges:
Hi

Tx

Rx

Figure 10 Multiple knife edge correction factor (Kmke)

Building density correction factor (S)

The building density factor is defined as , such that 0% < < 40%. S= 20 ( 1%) S= 20 -3.74(log10) - 9.75(log10)2(1%<<5%) S= 26 -19.0(log10)(5%) These equations are valid for 2km< d < 40km. Each clutter type has its own, user-definable, value for building density.
Then

23

Technical Note

Mobile antenna height correction factor (Hr)

The mobile antenna height correction factor, Hr, is valid for all Okumura frequencies and clutter types. Hr = 22.92(log10hre)3 - 10.27(log10hre)2 + 10.16(log10hre) -1.9
Where

hre is the mobile antenna height (m).

Tuning the Planet General model using AMT

The components of the Planet General model can be optimized using the Automatic Model Tuner (AMT) tool. For detailed instructions on tuning the Planet General model using AMT, see Chapter 4, Working with Propagation Models, in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Technical overview
AMT optimizes the clutter absorption loss and K1 to K5 factors. For more information on the path loss equation for Planet General model, see Standard propagation model on page 4. To determine the K factors that can be automatically tuned, AMT performs correlation and cross-correlation tests between the predicted path loss and the log dm , D loss , and log H eff model components. The correlation factor calculations determine the model components that are similar with the actual path loss. A high correlation value (1) between a model component and path loss implies high similarity, indicating that the component can model path loss well. For example, if the correlation factor between path loss and diffraction is small (close to 0), using diffraction loss will not improve the root mean square (RMS) error of the model significantly. If you optimize the diffraction loss factor (K4), the RMS error will not be reduced by a significant amount and the optimized value for K4 might be invalid (less than 0).

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Planet General Model Technical Note

Correlation and cross-correlation thresholds

AMT uses a number of conditions based on the correlation calculations and correlation thresholds to decide whether a condition should be optimized or not. These conditions are outlined in Table 1.2 and Table 1.3.
Table 1.2 Correlation tests Correlation Tests Measurement Data Path loss Path loss Path loss Model Component log ( d ) log ( h eff ) d loss Correlation Factor p2 p3 p4 Correlation Threshold (pT) 0.0 p3T (AMT default is 0.2) p4T (AMT default is 0.2)

Table 1.3 Cross-correlation tests Cross-correlation Tests Measurement Data d loss log ( H eff ) Model Component log ( d ) log ( d ) log ( h eff ) Correlation Factor p24 p35 Correlation Threshold p24T (AMT default is 0.9) p35T (AMT default is 0.9)

Default values for model parameters

The following tables describe the default values for each model parameter in the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box.

25

Technical Note

K1
Options Optimize Hata urban Default value Calculated by optimization For 150 to 1500 MHz: ( 44.9 3 ) [ 69.55 + 26.16 log ( f ) ] For 1500 to 2000 MHz: ( 44.9 3 ) [ 46.33 + 33.91 log ( f ) ] Hata suburban For 150 to 2000 MHz: K1 Hata rural HataUrban + 2 [ log ( f 28 ) ] + 5.4
2

For 150 to 2000 MHz: K1 HataUrban + 4.78 [ log ( f ) ] 18.33 log ( f ) + 40.94
2

Free space User defined

60 32.44 20 log ( f ) Value set by user

K2
Options Optimize Hata value Free space User defined Default value Calculated by optimization -44.9 -20.0 Value set by user

K3
Options Optimize Hata value Free space User defined Default value Calculated by optimization -5.83 0 Value set by user

K4
Options Optimize Default value Calculated by optimization

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Planet General Model Technical Note Options User defined Hata value Free space Default value Value set by user 0 0

K5
Options Optimize Hata value Free space User defined Default value Calculated by optimization 6.55 0 Value set by user

Clutter Offsets
Options Optimize Zero User defined Default value Calculated by optimization 0 Value set by user

Requirements for optimization

Table 1.4 describes the optimization requirements for each factor.
Table 1.4 Optimization requirements for factors K Factor K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 Clutter offsets Requirements for Optimization Can always be optimized Can always be optimized If p3 > p3T and p3 > 0.01 If p4 > p4T and p24 < p24T and p4 > 0.01 If p3 > p3T and p35 < p35T and p3 > 0.01 Can always be optimized

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Technical Note

To create an AMT template

To tune a model with AMT using the Standard method (see Developing an optimized Planet General model on page 29), you must first create a custom template based on the Planet General model. An AMT model template contains default settings intended for use with AMT. 1 2 In Mentum Planet, choose Edit Propagation Models. The Create/Edit Propagation Model dialog box opens. Choose Create New Propagation Model and, from the associated list, choose Planet General Model, and click OK. The Propagation Model Editor opens. 3 4 5 6 7 Click the Settings tab and, in the Name box, define a name for the new model. In the Receiver Height section, choose Global. Click the General tab. In the Model section, for the Type option, choose 1 Piece. In the K Factors section, do all of the following:

From the Intercept, K1 (near) list, choose User Defined, and type -120 in the box. From the Slope, K2 (near) list, choose Hata Value. From the Effective Antenna Height Gain, K3 list, choose Free Space. From the Diffraction Factor, K4 list, choose User Defined, and type 1 in the box. From the Log(Heff) * Log(d) Factor, K5 list, choose Free Space. From the Mobile Antenna Height Factor, K6 list, choose Free Space.

8 9

In the Knife Edge section, in the Merging Distance box, type 100. Click the Path Clutter tab and clear the Enable Path Clutter check box.

10 Click the Troposcatter Effect tab and clear the Enable Troposcatter Model check box. 11 Click the Okumura tab and clear all of the check boxes.

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Planet General Model Technical Note

12 Click the Effective Antenna Height tab, and from the Type list, choose Spot Height. 13 Edit any of the other settings as required. 14 Click OK. The propagation model is saved in the Models folder of your project.

Developing an optimized Planet General model

This section describes how to create an optimized Planet General model using the Standard method. To use the standard method, you should have a good understanding of Mentum Planet and be well versed in how to tune a model.
If you have little or no knowledge of model tuning, you can use the Smart method to tune your model. For more information, see Tuning the Planet General model using AMT, in Chapter 4, Working with Propagation Models, in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

To develop an optimized PGM using the Standard method

1 2 3 In the Project Explorer, in the Operational Data category, right-click a survey and choose Model Tuning. In the Model Tuning dialog box, type a name for the tuned model in the New Model Name box. From the Model to Tune list, choose an AMT template file. For more information on creating a template file, see To create an AMT template on page 28. 4 5 From the Model Tuner list, choose Planet AMT Version 1.5. In the Model Tuning dialog box, click Edit Tuner. The Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box opens.

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Technical Note

Do all of the following:

From the K1, K2, and K4 lists, choose Optimize. From the K3 and K5 lists, choose Hata value, and set Clutter Offsets to 0. Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the model tuning process. Examine the mean error for each site. Note the sites with large mean errors and RMS errors (assuming that there is a minimum of 1000 points for each site). If not enough points are available for the site, the mean error estimates will be inaccurate.

If K4 cannot be optimized, or if the optimized value of K4 is less than 0.2, do the following in the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:

Type 0.5 in the K4 box Choose Optimize for K1 and K2 again Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the model tuning process. Examine the mean error for each site.

If you want to further tune the model that you tuned in Step 7, do the following in the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:

From the K1, K2, and K4 lists, type values that you obtained in Step 7. From the K3 and K5 lists, choose Hata value. From the Clutter Offsets list, choose Optimize. Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the model tuning process. Examine the mean error for each site. Clutter offsets with values less than 90 to 95% are considered to be unreliable estimates. Unless you think that these values are unreasonable, unreliable clutter values should not be used; instead, you should set their values to 0.

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(Optional) If you want to further optimize the Planet General Model, repeat the steps described in Step 8, and do the following in the Planet General Model Parameters dialog box

Click the Path Clutter tab. On the Path Clutter tab, enable the Enable Path Clutter check box. Typical path clutter distances are 500 m to 1000 m. Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the model tuning process. See if there are any improvements not only in the RMS error but with the predictions.

10 Identify the sites that have a significant absolute mean error (greater than 5 dB) and see if these sites can be classified in a different environment. Develop a new model for sites that have large mean errors.

Obtaining a model similar to Hata COST-231

The Hata COST-231 model for 9000 MHz and 1800 MHz has been obtained from measurements in Europe. The model is composed of the Hata Urban model plus a correction factor to account for different environments. The Hata COST 231 model can be represented by the following equation:
L p = ( k ( f ) 13.82 log 10h b ) + ( 44.9 6.55 log 10h b ) log ( 10 ( dkm ) + Clutter Absorption Loss )

or
L p = L Hata + Clutter Absorption Loss Where Lp hb f

is the path loss (in dB) is the height of the base station above ground level (in meters)

is the frequency (in MHz)

is the distance between the base station antenna and the mobile receiver with a height of 1.5 meters
dkm

The Clutter Absorption Loss is the additional loss in dB with respect to the Hata Urban path loss. The valid range of the parameters is:

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Technical Note

k ( f ) = 69.55 + 26.16 log 10 ( f )for f = 150 MHz to 1500 MHz k ( f ) = 46.3 + 33.9 ( 26.16 ) log 10 ( f )for f = 1500 MHz to 2000 MHz Where hb

represents 30m to 200m represents 1 km to 20 km represents 1.5 m

dkm hm

You can optimize the propagation model by setting factors K1 to K5 to the Hata values (note that K4 is equal to 0 for the Hata model) and obtain the Clutter Absorption Loss using AMT.

Using the Free Space factor

Knife Edge diffraction theory models propagation loss as Free Space Loss + Diffraction Loss . This produces reasonable results in rural areas where terrain is the main source of obstructions. You can set factors K1 to K2 to the Free Space values and optimize the diffraction factor, K4. You can obtain better results when you set K2 to the Free Space value (-20) and set K1 and K4 to be optimized. Another option is to set K2 to -20, K4 to 1.0 and to optimize K1 only (and the Clutter Offsets factor if a variety of clutter classes exists in that area). Good models can be obtained using this method in areas where shadowing is dominated by terrain and not by buildings (i.e., highway sites in rural areas). Even if the RMS error is large (greater than 9 dB), the prediction will most likely be reasonable.

Using Okumura correction factors

An Okumura-Hata propagation model is derived empirically for areas with quasi-smooth terrain (i.e., with no significant terrain variations or hills). The effects of the terrain are accounted for using specified Okumura correction factors. The height parameter (hb) in the Hata-Okumura model corresponds to the height of the base station. When the Okumura correction factors are used, it is appropriate to use the Base Height algorithm when determining the Effective Antenna Height. Other algorithms that can be used and produce reasonable model factors are the Spot Height, Absolute Spot Height, and Profile algorithms. When you use the

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Slope algorithm, it is recommended that you set K5 to 0. It is also recommended that Okumura correction factors are not used with the Slope algorithm. These recommendations are based on analyses of real measurement data.
Effects of each model component

You can observe the effect of each component in the model and check if an acceptable RMS error can be obtained from a simpler model using the following steps: 1 In the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box, do the following:

Choose Optimize from the K1 and K2 lists. Choose Hata from the K3 and K5 lists. Type 0.5 in the K4 box. Type 0 in the Clutter Offsets box. Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the tuning process. See if there is an improvement in the RMS error.

If there was an improvement in the RMS error for K1 and K2, do the following in the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:

Type the values that you obtained for K1 and K2 in Step 1 in the respective boxes. Choose Optimize from the K4 list. Choose Hata from the K3 and K5 lists. Type 0 in the Clutter Offsets box. Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the tuning process. See if there is an improvement in the RMS error.

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Technical Note

If there was an improvement in the RMS error, do the following in the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:

Type the values that you obtained for K1, K2, and K4 in Step 2 in the respective boxes. Choose Optimize from the K3 list. Choose Hata from the K5 list. Type 0 in the Clutter Offsets box. Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the tuning process. See if there is an improvement in the RMS error.

If there was an improvement in the RMS error, do the following in the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:

Type the values that you obtained for K1, K2, K4, and K3 in Step 3 in the respective boxes. Choose Optimize from the K5 list. Type 0 in the Clutter Offsets box. Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the tuning process. See if there is an improvement in the RMS error. Click the Effective Antenna Height tab. On the Effective Antenna Height tab, choose an algorithm from the Type list. Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the tuning process. Repeat these steps to see which algorithm displays a higher correlation and produces a lower RMS error or lower maximum error.

In the Planet General Model Parameters dialog box, do the following:

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Planet General Model Technical Note

If there was an improvement in the RMS error, do the following in the Planet General Model Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:

Type the values that you obtained for K1, K2, K3, K4, and K5 in Step 4 in the respective boxes. Choose Optimize from the Clutter Offsets list. Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the tuning process.

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Technical Note

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