Modelling Path Loss in Mobile Communication 4G

Network System for Dryland and Wetland Terrains

Oluwagbemiga Shoewu∗ , Lateef Adesola Akinyemi† , Lawrence Oborkhale ‡
∗† Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Lagos State University
Epe Campus, Nigeria
† Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa

‡ Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture

Umudike, Abia, Nigeria

1
oluwagbemiga.shoewu@lasu.edu.ng; engrshoewu@yahoo.com;
2
lateef.akinyemi@lasu.edu.ng;letua034@yahoo.com
3
oborkhale.lawrence@gmail.com

Abstract—Prediction of signal strength received in certain
locations in wetland and dryland areas is of paramount impor-
tance in the determination of the performance of any wireless
design. In this paper, the significance of the Okumura-Hata
model is investigated for the 4G signal. The received signal
strengths at different locations for three (3) 4G base stations
in Lagos are measured through the drive test. Some of the
existing propagation path loss models such as Free Space,
Okumura, Okumura-Hata, COST 231 Hata, Davidson-Hata are
not suitable for prediction of 4G signal in Lagos, Nigeria due to
a high error caused by higher carrier frequency and distance.
The analysis of the Okumura-Hata model is carried out and
compared with the measured values. Path loss obtained for Isolo
(urban dryland), Itoikin (Suburban wetland) and Ijede (Rural
dryland) respectively. The dry land areas of Isolo and Ijede
revealed a very close mean square error relationship of 20.56dB
and 22.22dB. The wetland protected area of Itoikin has a low
mean square error of 12.51dB. The ECC-33 model has a very
high mean square error making it not a suitable model for both
wetland and dryland areas. For April, the path loss for Isolo
was slightly above 200dB while that of Itoikin which happen to
be a wetland terrain is above 250dB. The path loss of Ijede was
also about 250dB and the reason is that Ijede is near to water
environment.
Index Terms—Path loss, wetland, dryland, 4G, terrain
I. I NTRODUCTION
The rate of increase in telecommunication systems has led
to an upsurge growth for the demand for services of next
generation applications by subscribers of mobile services.
Hence, this demand has led and resulted in the great desire
for thorough and proper network planning and predictions
[1], [2], [3]. Additionally, reports have it in the related works
that the prediction models such as Okumura, Hata and so
on depend solely on data collection experimetally and by
extension with statistical analysis which assists greatly in the
computation of received signal level in a propagating medium
such as air [4], [5], [6]. However, the path loss data are
important for the design of link budget and determination of
coverage area of a particular base station. Therefore, path loss
can be simply put as the degradation or reduction of signal
as it travels from one base station (transmitter) to the other
called receiver during communication. Consequently, path
loss prediction models are typically divided into site-specific
propagation, empirical and theoretical models. In this study,
we will utilise the empirical models such as Hata, Okumura,
COST 231 and Ericsson [7], [8], [9] .The determination of
electromagnetic field strength describes the signal alternation
from transmitter antenna to receiver antenna. This propagation
is a function of distance, carrier, frequency, antenna heights
and some interesting significant parameters such as the terrain
profile [10], [11], [12], [13]. Path loss models [6] have
conventionally and , in principle, centred and based on the
prediction of the received signal level for a particular distance
from the base station also known as transmitter. It has also
been used to determine the variability of the signal strength in
a close proximity to any particular location. It has also been
shown that path loss information can be used as a controlling
factor for mobile system performance or coverage in order to
achieve accurate reception.
Received signal strength is power measurement identified
by any mobile communication system. The strength of the
signal propagated between a base station and a mobile equip-
ment must be greater than the threshold parameter in order
for the signal quality at the receiver end to be maintained. It
is imperative that the signal strength must not be too strong
to create any co-channel interference in channels in other
cells identified with the same frequency band. Observations
show that the GSM frequency signal gets weaker as mobile
equipment moved away from the base station and becomes
stronger as it moves closer to the base station [4], [14].
In this work, a proposed model which is an alternative
method for determining path loss for wetland and dryland
terrains for the 4G network is investigated. The contributions
of this paper are as follows:
• The development and modelling of path loss in mobile
communication 4G network system for dryland and
wetland terrains in Lagos , Nigeria. To the best of our
knowledge, this is the first time such investigation will
be carried out.

Page 44 Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC) 2019
 • A customised graphic user interface is incorporated in
this study as shown in Figures 5 and 6. This makes
it plausible and distinct from the existing ones because
it has not been developed specifically for wetland and
dryland areas in Lagos,Nigeria.
• Data were collected via drive test for the implementation
of the models for 3 different areas in Itoikin, Ijede and
Isolo (Lagos, Nigeria), with the 2 terrains considered.
• Numerical results are presented which evaluate the per-
formance of the method used in this study.

II. R ELATED W ORKS

In modelling path loss for wetland and dryland terrains,

Fig. 1. Isolo Terrain Map.
several models have been proposed by authors. Although these
works in one way or the other, have all attempted to closely
study different terrains such as metropolitan,vegetative area
and hilly environment. One key explanation in terms of this
present study was given [4] who worked on the fuzzy-logic
based path loss models for metroplitan. While this has been
accepted by many researchers and authors, till date, none
has ever attempted to model and investigate the path loss in
mobile communicatio 4G for dryland and wetland terrains in
Lagos or any part of the country, Nigeria.In [11] [12] [13]
who worked on different locations of Nigeria regarding the
path loss models at some point, none of the authors had ever
attempted to investigate the wetland and dryland cases in the
country. Likewise, authors in [5] made some significant step
to compute the signal strength and the local terrain profile
with striking results being obtained. However, their work did
not address the issue of wetland and dryland effect on the Fig. 2. Ijede Terrain Map.
path loss of the received signal strength.

III. R ADIO WAVE P ROPAGATION E NVIRONMENTS

The study areas are located in Lagos state with coordinates
( 6◦ 30’ 51.0948”N and 3◦ 18’ 31.240” E) for Isolo ( 6◦ 39’
0”N and 3◦ 18’ 48” E) for Itoikin and ( 6◦ 34’ 0”N and 3◦
36’ 0” E) for Ijede. The drive experiments were conducted
in three parts of Lagos, the first drive test was done at Isolo
(oshodi). The second set of experiments were conducted at
Itoikin which is a suburban area of Lagos and the third
location where the tests were carried out was at Ijede Lagos
state.
A. Set-up of The Research Test Bed
The materials for the collection of the data needed for
this research is carried out using the following: For the
dryland measurement, 240 sample data were collected while
for the wetland measurement, 120 measured sample data were
collected. When these samples were subjected to test using
various propagation models, the Hata model predicted the bets
for both dryland and wetland areas as shown in Tables 1 and
2.
1) Terminal mobile station (TEMS) Phone: This simulates
communication of terminal users so that the probe can
record the drive test data.
2) Laptop: This provides an interface through which scan-
ners, GPS, etc can communicate with the system and is
also equipped with TEMs investigation 15.1 drive test
software [1], [2], [3].
3) GPS: It is used to record the test point positions during
the drive test .
4) Vehicle: This is used for moving around the designated
base station transmitters with other equipment .
Drive tests were conducted in Isolo, itokin and ijede, A
dedicated telecommunication vehicle driven along identified
routes was used to conduct drive test in Isolo, Itoikin and
Ijede areas of Lagos State. The telecommunication road
map showed the drive test routes to cover testbed antenna
sectors. The TEMS software installed on a laptop with global
positioning device (BU 353S4) and the TEMS mobile station
(Ericsson W995) were connected through the USB ports. The
GPS was used as a location tracker for the system during data
collection. The mobile station was used to initiate calls during
the data collection process. While driving, the cell-phone was
connected and allowed to make calls to a particular number
after a configuration had been completed. The collected data
were stored in Log file form for additional process. An
analyser called Actix was used for this process.

Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC) 2019 Page 45
 α = 69.55 + 26.16 log10 (fc ) − 13.82 log10 (hb ) − a(hm )
(2)

β = 44.9 − 6.55 log10 (hb ) (3)

 2
fc
γ = 5.4 + log10 ( ) (4)
28


1.1 [log10 (fc ) − 0.7] hm − Γ for suburban
2
a(hm ) = 8.29 [log10 (1.54 ∗ hm )] − 1.1 for urban areas
 2
3.2 [log10 (11.75 ∗ hm )] − 4.97 for urban areas
(5)
Fig. 3. Itoikin Terrain Map.

Γ = [1.56 log10 (fc ) − 0.8] (6)

B. Data Acquisition
In carrying out this research, practically measured data
which is obtained from the different locations of interest are
compiled and compared with the computed results which were
obtained from the various path loss prediction models. The
data collection tools for the drive test include a test phone
which is equipped with a TEMS pocket software (Trans-
mission Evaluation and Monitoring system) and a Global
positioning system (GPS). This measured data is obtained
by a series of drive test for path loss collection that was
conducted from a Sony Ericsson w995 base station located
at the environments of interest. The field measurements from
the base station transmitter were carried out at three different
locations (Isolo, Itokin and Ijede). The phone is equipped
with TEMS pocket 15.1 which is a professional test software
for communication networks and analysis software. The base
station transmits at a frequency of 2000 MHz. The test phone
is used for the purpose of collecting and capturing the received
power levels at the specified distances, and the collected signal
strength would be displayed. The GPS was used to measure
the transmitter to receiver (T-R) separation distance i.e the
distance between the base station and the test phone. The
experimental data were collected at distances ranging from
1km to 10km for the three radio paths.
IV. S YTEM M ODELS FOR THE S TUDY
In this study, models such as COST 231, Hata, Hata-
Okumura Extended Mode (ECC-33) and Ericsson will be used
and comparison of their performance will be done afterwards.
A. Hata Model
This model called Hata model [4] successfully formulated
an empirical mathematical relation which explains the graph-
ical path loss data in form of information as provided by
Okumura’s model. The following are the application of ranges
which Hata model covers: The Path loss, ρ(dB) is given as:

α + β log10 (d) for urban areas
ρ(dB) = (1)
α + β log10 (d) + γ for suburban areas
where α, β and γ are expressed as:
The transmission distance is given as d in Km and the carrier
frequency as fc in MHz.
B. COST 231 Model for suburban area
The COST 231 model is considered to be useful and
operates in the 1800 − 2000MHz frequency band. It has been
established in literature [4] that the path loss of this model
can be more dramatic at these frequencies than those in the
900MHz. This model is an extension of the Hata model for
use in the 1500 − 2000MHz frequency band, where it is
established that the path loss is underestimated. The Path loss,
ρc (dB) is given as:
ρc (dB) = αc + β log10 (d) + γ c (7)
where α and γ are as follows:
c c
αc = 46.3+33.9 log10 (fc )−13.82 log10 (hb )−a(hm ) (8)

c 0 for medium cities & urban areas
γ (dB) = (9)
3 for metropolitan areas
Where β and a(hm ) are given in (3) and (5).
C. ECC-33 Model
This is also known as the Hata-Okumura Extended model.
This model is based on extrapolation of the experimental mea-
surements taken by Okumura and redefined its assumptions
in order to make it applicable nicely in the wireless network
system. The ECC-33 model is given as:
Lp (dB) = αf s + βbm − Gb − Gr (10)
Where αf s , βbm , Gb , and Gr are the free space attenuation,
the basic media path loss, base station height gain factor and
receiver height gain factor, respectively.
αf s = 92.4 + 20 log10 d + 20 log10 fc (11)
βbm = 20.41 + 9.83 log10 d + 7.89 log10 fc
2
+ 9.56 [log10 fc ] (12)

Page 46 Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC) 2019

Fig. 4. GUI representation of the models.
Fig. 5. Screenshot of the Hata Model GUI.
hb 2
Gb = log (13.958 + 5.8 log10 d) (13)
200
 above 250dB. The path loss of Ijede was also about 250dB
[42.57 + 13.7 log fc ] . [log10 hr − 0.585]
Gr = (14)
0.759.hr − 1.862
Where fc , d, hb and hr denote carrier frequency in GHz,
distance between the transmitter and the receiver in km, height
of the base station antenna in metres and height of the mobile
antenna height in metres, respectively.
D. Ericsson Model
This is also one model used by the network planing
engineers alongside software provided by Ericsson firm and
it is termed Ericsson model. This model, which stands on the
refined Okumura-Hata model in order to give access for the
modification of parameters based on the propagation area.
Lp (dB) = α0 + α1 log10 (d) + α2 log10 (hb )+
 
α3 log10 (hb ). log10 (d) − 3.2 log10 (11.75.hr )2 + β.fc
(15)
For urban areas, α0 , α1 , α2 , α3 are given as 36.3,
30.2,12 and 0.1 respectively. Besides, for suburban areas
α0 , α1 , α2 , α3 are given as 46.2, 68.93,12 and 0.1 respectively.
The values of α0 and α1 for suburban areas are obtained
based on the Least-square approach. Where fc is the carrier
frequency in M Hz, d is the distance between base station
and the mobile antenna in km, hb is the base station antenna
height in metres and hr is the mobile antenna height in metres.
Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC) 2019
V. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
The numerical results of the predicted and the measured
path loss data from the field were graphically plotted versus
the distance between the transmitter ( base station) and the
mobile station antennas and clearly depicted the results of path
loss prediction from Hata model, COST 231 model, ECC-
33 model, Ericsson model and the measured path loss.Thus,
Isolo (urban dryland environment), Ijede (rural dryland envi-
ronment), and Itoikin (sub-urban wetland environment) . The
empirical models were employed in this study and results
predicted. The mean measured path loss is shown in Table I.
TABLE I
M EAN M EASURED PATH L OSS
Location Hata COST 231 ECC-33 Ericsson
Isolo (Dryland) 154.55 160.026 342.368 196.5421
Itokin (Wetland) 139.421 154.3053 351.3895 221.0421
Ijede (Dryland) 118.1889 153.4632 350.615 221.6
The Fig. 6 depicts a comparative between path loss ob-
tained for Isolo (urban dryland), Itoikin (Suburban wetland)
and Ijede (Rural dryland) respectively. The dry land areas
of Isolo and Ijede revealed a very close mean square error
relationship of 20.56dB and 22.22dB. The wetland protected
area of Itoikin has a low mean square error of 12.51dB. The
ECC-33 model has a very high mean square error making
it not a suitable model for both wetland and dryland areas.
For April, the path loss for Isolo was slightly above 200dB
while that of Itoikin which happens to be a wetland terrain is
and the reason is that Ijede’s proximity to wetland (water
environment). The Hata model produced better results as
shown in Fig. 6 to Fig. 9 which makes it a very good path
loss model to be used. The RMSE for the study from April
to June are very satisfactory for the study. The measured
data for the months of April till June, in Isolo, Itoikin and
Ijede are utilized to validate the accuracy of the model. The
minimum path loss for Hata, COST 231, EC-33 and Ericsson
for Isolo is 131.6dB, 137.1dB, 320.4dB and 150.6dB respec-
tively while the minimum path loss for Itoikin is 116.7dB,
131.5dB, 329.8dB, and 154dB respectively, and for Ijede is
95.69dB, 130.9dB, 328.9 dB and 154.5dB respectively. As
the receiver moves away from BS, the path loss increases
to 154.1dB, 159.6dB, 341.6dB and 195.6 for Isolo dryland,
139dB, 153.9dB, 350.6dB for Itoikin wetland and 117.7dB,
153dB, 349.8dB, and 220.2 for Ijede dryland at 4.5km.
The Hata and COST 231 models indicated some degree of
similarity with a marginal difference.Additionally, the ECC-
33 model results were compared to the Hata, COST 231 and
Ericsson models. The increase in path loss prediction by ECC
model succinctly shows that the area of study requires great
consideration on locating a GSM base station.However, the
measured results showed some degree of disparity as a result
of obstructions such as physical structures within the area of
the study.
Page 47
 TABLE II
M EAN S QUARE E RROR E VALUATION FOR THE THREE LOCATIONS

Location Hata COST 231 ECC-33 Ericsson

Isolo (Dryland) 22.2229 27.1467 207.5412 64.2740
Itokin (Wetland) 12.5055 22.9431 217.2687 91.415
Ijede (Dryland) 20.5615 21.8480 215.8760 91.2789

Fig. 8. May Path loss for the different models.

Fig. 6. March Path loss for the different models.

Fig. 9. June Path loss for the different models.

Fig. 7. April Path loss for the different models

Page 48 Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC) 2019
 VI. C ONCLUSION
The proposed graphical user (GUI) interface based ap-
proach is an alternative method for determining path loss
for wetland and dryland terrains. It is a more transparent
method that is better than what is currently in use. The basis
of the study is the need for a method that is field-less. More
so,in this study, we have developed a GUI-based model which
makes the interaction between the user who drives or conducts
the test and the system of the network thereby making it
unique from the existing works. This has not been developed
specifically for wetland and dryland areas in Lagos, Nigeria in
the literature. To this end, no researcher has incorporated this
feature to the existing works. The research was fuelled by the
need for a cost-effective and simple path loss determination
method. The methodology was tested using Lagos wetland
and dryland terrains as case study of certain network within
the Nigerian environment where data was compiled using at
least two criteria to determine path loss. It was discovered
that the GUI-based software produced the results expected.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The lead authors (OS and LAA) would like to thank the
support of the TETFUND, the Departments of Electronic &
Computer Engineering, Lagos State University and Electrical
& Electronics Engineering, Michael Okpara University of
Agriculture, Nigeria, respectively. The lead authors (OS and
LAA) would like to graciously acknowledge the support
received from Telkom SA and the Jasco Group via the Telkom
Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Broadband Networks at the
University of Cape Town.
[12] S. Popoola and O. Oseni, “Empirical Path Loss Models for GSM
Network Deployment in Makurdi, Nigeria,” International Refeered
Journal of Engineering and Science, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 85–94, 2014.
[13] M. Adhikari, “A Survey and Review of GSM Base Transceiver System,
Installation, Architecture and uplink/downlink,” Journal of the Interna-
tional Association of dvanced Technology and Science, vol. 16, no. X,
pp. yy–zz, 2015.
[14] E. Committee, “Within the european conference of postal and telecom-
munications administration (cept), the analysis of the coexistence of
fwa cells in th 3.4 - 3.8ghz band.”
Shoewu, O B.Sc. (Electronic and Computer Engineering). M.Sc. (Electronics
and Communications), PhD (Electronics and telecommunications), MIAENG,
MIEEE, MIET, MCPN, MNCS, MNSE, MNIEM, MNIEEE, MMEACSE.
SMIRED, MIACSIT, MIAJC, MSDIWC, MIAASSE. He is a lecturer at the
faculty of Engineering, Lagos State University, and his research interests
are Electronics, Signal Propagation, Telecommunications, Embedded Systems
and Computational Analysis.
AKINYEMI, Lateef Adesola received a B.Sc (LASU) Electronic and
Computer Engineering, Lagos, an M.Sc (LASU) in Electronic and Computer
Engineering, and M.Sc (UNILAG) in Electrical and Electronics Engineer-
ing(Communication Engineering Option). Currently, he is a PhD candidate
in the Department of Electrical Engineering, UNiversity of Cape Town.
His research areas are Wireless Communications, Computational Electronics
Analysis, Wavelets and Frames, Electromagnetic fields and Waves, Radio
Wave propagation, Antennas, Microwave Engineering and Quantum Electro-
dynamic Applications to Plasmonic, Photonic and Mesoscopic devices.
Lawrence Idemudia Oborkhale B.Eng. (Ilorin), M.Eng. (Benin) and PhD
Telecommunications (Enugu), He is a Professor at the college of engineering
and Engineering technology, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture,
Umudike. His research interest are Signal Processing and Telecommunica-
tions

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