International Journal of EmergingTrends & Technology in Computer Science(IJETTCS)

Web Site: www.ijettcs.org Email: editor@ijettcs.org

Volume 3, Issue 3, May June 2014 ISSN 2278-6856


Volume 3, Issue 3 May June 2014 Page 100


Abstract: This study presents an investigation of signal
received in a suburban terrain of south-south Nigeria. The
net monitor software installed in Nokia handset was used to
conduct measurement of the received signal strength from
fixed transmitting base station. Received signal strength
measurement was conducted in Amukpe-Sapele for six
months. The data was analysed using linear regression with
Matlab 7.0 code to determine the propagation path loss
exponent. The path loss exponent determined is 2.8 dB which
are evident for the poor GSM signal in the environment. This
parameter will assist mobile cellular network designers in
carrying out accurate pathloss predictions models that are use
use to find network coverage gaps and areas with poor
serviceability.

Keywords: Attenuation, Pathloss Exponent, Signal
Strength, Radio Frequency.

1. INTRODUCTION
Signal attenuation is an important parameter in
telecommunication applications because of its importance
in determining signal strength as a function of distance.
A data communication channel is a path through a
medium that data can take to accomplish a
communication task. In effect, channels are data
highways carrying signals from sending stations to
receiving stations along predefined routes.
Telecommunication channels are characterized according
to transmission rate, transmission mode and transmission
direction and without exception, communication signals
(speech, images, video, or computer data) are
electromagnetic waves traveling along transmission lines
such as two-wire line, coaxial line, optical fiber and
microwave link. The global system for mobile
communication GSM cellular network signal is usually
transmitted through a path as radio waves and is affected
by propagation factor such as atmospheric particles,
diffraction, reflection, scattering and absorption. This
phenomenon can seriously limit the performance of
telecommunication system especially at microwave level.
Attenuation is the reduction of signal strength during
transmission with unit of decibel (dB). It is measured in
dB per km unit during the transmission of signal which
gets attenuated exponentially, dB per distance.
Attenuation is an inherent characteristic of radio
frequency signal, is very important in the communication
design aspect [6]. So it should be taken into consideration
while designing and calculating the RSL (Receive Signal
Level) of the RF signal between two stations.

Wireless signal transmission is based on radio wave
propagation. Generally speaking, the signal strength is
attenuated by three basic physical phenomena: reflection,
diffraction, and scattering [4]. Pathloss is the reduction in
signal strength as they propagate from the transmitter to
the receiver. This unwanted reduction in signal depends
largely on the properties of the propagation path and it is
best characterized by its pathloss exponent.
Communication engineers are generally concern with the
application of mobile radio link parameter which consists
of the path loss exponent that indicates the rate at which a
signal depreciates with increase in distance. A unique
mean path loss exponent (n) is assigned to each
propagation environment which is established by means
of the experiment. To the system engineer, this parameter
would help in model formulation that appropriates for
certain geographical areas, determine signal strength in
error and examine the percentage of how signal received
were affected due to attenuation, thus enhance proper
network design to improve the quality of GSM signal
strength. The aim of this paper is the determination of
signal degradation using the path loss exponent for a
given suburban environment in south-south Nigeria.
Hence this work was carried out to assess the extent of
signal attenuation noticed from a six month routine
monitoring of the received signal level measured from the
carrier station in one of the telecommunication company
in Amukpe-Sapele, Nigeria.

2. BACKGROUND
Pathloss Exponent: In most path loss modeling, a
parameter of n, which is called path loss exponent, is
used to characterize how fast the signal attenuates with
respect to the communication distance [1]. The Path loss,
which represents signal attenuation as a positive quantity
measured in dB, is defined as the difference (in dB)
between the effective transmitted power and the received
power, and may or may not include the effect of the
antenna gains. The loss for the free space model when
antenna gains are included is given by


c
fd 4
log 20
(1)
Where is constant, f is frequency, d is distance and c is
the speed of light. When antenna gains are excluded, the
antennas are assumed to have unity gain, and path loss is
given by [5].
Characterization of Signal Attenuation using
Pathloss Exponent in South-South Nigeria

Okumbor N. Anthony and Okonkwo Obikwelu, Raphael

1, 2
Department of Computer Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
Awka, Nigeria
International Journal of EmergingTrends & Technology in Computer Science(IJETTCS)
Web Site: www.ijettcs.org Email: editor@ijettcs.org
Volume 3, Issue 3, May June 2014 ISSN 2278-6856


Volume 3, Issue 3 May June 2014 Page 101


(

= =
2 2
2
) 4 (
log 10 log 10 ) (
d P
P
dB PL
r
t

(2)
The Friis free space model is only a valid predictor for
r
P for values of d which are in the far-field of the
transmitting antenna. The far-field, or Fraun-hofer
region, of a transmitting antenna is defined as the region
beyond the far-field distance
f
d , which is related to the
largest linear dimension of the transmitter antenna
aperture and the carrier wavelength. The Fraunhofer
distance is given by

2
2D
d
f
=

where, D is the largest physical linear dimension of the
antenna. Additionally, to be in the far-field region,
f
d

must satisfy

D d
f
))

and

)) df

Furthermore, it is clear that equation (1) does not hold
for 0 = d . For this reason, large-scale propagation
models use a close-in distance,
0
d , as a known received
power reference point. The received power, ) (d P
r
, at any
distance
0
d d >
, may be related to
r
P at
0
d . The value
) (
0
d P
r
may be predicted, or may be measured in the
radio environment by taking the average received power
at many points located at a close-in radial distance
0
d
from the transmitter. The reference distance must be
chosen such that it lies in the far-field region, that
is,
f
d d >
0
, and
0
d

is chosen to be smaller than any
practical distance used in the mobile communication
system. Thus the received power in free space at a
distance greater than
0
d is given by [4].
2
0
0
) ( ) ( |
.
|

\
|
=
d
d
d P d P
r r

f
d d d > >
0
(3)
By using path loss models to estimate the received signal
level as a function of distance, it becomes possible to
predict the signal strength for a mobile communication
system. A practical path loss estimation technique is
presented in this work.
Log distance path loss model: Both theoretical and
measurement-based propagation models indicate that
average received signal power decreases logarithmically
with distance, whether in outdoor or indoor radio
channels. The average large-scale path loss for an
arbitrary T-R separation is expressed as a function of
distance by using a path loss exponent, n.

n
L
d
d
d P
|
|
.
|

\
|
0
) (
(4)
or

|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
0
0
log 10 ) (

) (

d
d
n d P dB P
L L

(5)
where:
n is the path loss exponent, which indicates the rate at
which the path loss increases with distance,
0
d is the close-in reference distance which is determined
from measurement close to the transmitter, and

d is the T-R separation distance.
The bars in equation (4) and (5) denote the ensemble
average of all possible path loss values for a given
value of d .
When plotted on a log-log scale, the modeled path loss is
a straight line with a slope equal to n 10 dB per
decade. The value of n depends on the specific
propagation environment. For example, in free space, n
is equal to 2, and when obstructions are present, n will
have a larger value. Table 1 lists typical path loss
exponents obtained in various mobile radio environments
[3].

Table 1. Path Loss Exponents for Different Environments
Environment Path Loss Exponent, n
Free Space 2
Urban area cellular radio 2.7 to 3.5
Shadowed urban cellular
radio
3 to 5
In building line-of-sight 1.6 to 1.8
Obstructed in building 4 to 6
Obstructed in factories 2 to 3

3. MATERIALS AND METHODS
The Field test measurement in the environment explicitly,
has the advantage of taking into account all the
environmental effects. Using the NOKIA 1265 test phone
systems operated in the active mode which was provided
by the GSM network service provider, to measure
received signal from the serving BTS, accompanied with
an HP portable laptop and a GAMINI GPS (Global
positioning system) receiver for accurate location,
measurement survey was conducted on received signal
strength propagation level, transmitting in 13000MHz.
The system links compromises of five BTS site cells the
links characteristics is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. System Link Characteristics
System Parameters Stations
Latitude and Longitude 05
0
53.961/ 005
0
41.139
Antenna Type Sectoral
BS Antenna Height 30m
Transmitting Frequency 13Ghz
Tx Pwr 15.0 (dBm)
Path Length 1km 12km

International Journal of EmergingTrends & Technology in Computer Science(IJETTCS)
Web Site: www.ijettcs.org Email: editor@ijettcs.org
Volume 3, Issue 3, May June 2014 ISSN 2278-6856


Volume 3, Issue 3 May June 2014 Page 102


The cells in the environment investigated have sectoral
antenna placed at 30 meters above ground level.

Measurement setup

Fig 1. Schematic diagram of measurement setup

METHODS: The measurement setup is shown in Fig.1.
A NOKIA handset equipped with net-monitor software
(Transmission Evaluation Monitoring System TEMS)
was used to measure the received signal strength level
(power received) at a distance (d) from the base station.
The software comprises of a scale, which represent the
power received in dBm. For every cell in the environment
investigated, power received at a distance 1000 meters
from the base station was measured. Power received at a
distance interval of 1000 m from the initial test point up
till the distance of 12km was measured. The global
positioning system GPS was used to determine the
geographic coordinate and distance. The field test was
done between November 2012 and April 2013 at
Amukpe-Sapele suburban area in south-south Nigeria
using GLO GSM network and five BS cell sites selected
in the locations of study. With the aid of testing tool (i.e.
NOKIA mobile handset) running on the software mode,
calls were initiated at each test point until it is established
and the signal strength information sent over the air
interface between the base and the mobile station were
read and recorded with the laptop computer. For every
site, received signal strength was measured at a reference
distance of 1000m from the base station and at
subsequent interval of 1000m up to 12000m. All
measurements were taken in the mobile active mode and
in three sectors of each base station. This was to ensure
that the mobile phone was in constant touch with the base
station. Averaging is done to compensate for variation in
signal strength at a given location over time.

The distances of these measurements points from the
reference point of the base station were recorded using the
global positioning system (GPS). The GPS showed the T-
R separation distances. The GPS was first switched on at
the foot of the BTS tower; before the ENTER button was
pressed. We moved away from the reference BTS, and
when the radial distance on the GPS becomes equal to the
desired close-in reference distance, the radio propagation
simulator was switched on to take the readings. Figure 3
shows the results obtained.
4. DATA ANALYSIS

Table 3: Mean Received Power (Pr) at Different Months
Nov 12 April 13.


The signal strength received by the Nokia handset
depends upon path, shadow fading and multipath fading,
the distance of the MU from the BSTs, between the BSTs
and the MU there are many obstacle for example trees,
building, human or vehicles movement and other
geographic features, these obstacles create temporal
variation of signal strength as recorded in Table 3. This
variation may be known as shadow fading or multi path
fading. The Nokia set receives line of sight (LOS) from
BSTs over a certain distance which may not be hitch free
from transmission impairment. After grouping the data
monitored and measured in six months the mean received
power for each month at the various distance were first
estimated which enable us to determine the signal
strength loss as shown in Table 4 and Plotted with Matlab
7.0 as shown in Figure 2 Average power received versus
distance.

Fig 2, Plot of Average Power received vs Distance for the
Months

From the plot it showcases that as distance increases the
received signal decreases for the months based on
attenuation factors and environmental conditions, for
instance, the month of February shows slightly pattern as
a result of harmattan.
THE PATH LOSS: Table 4 showcases the signal losses
for different months. It was determined using:
Pr = Pt Pl
International Journal of EmergingTrends & Technology in Computer Science(IJETTCS)
Web Site: www.ijettcs.org Email: editor@ijettcs.org
Volume 3, Issue 3, May June 2014 ISSN 2278-6856


Volume 3, Issue 3 May June 2014 Page 103


Where
Pl =Path loss
Pt =Power Transmitted
Pr =Power Received

Table 4: Path Loss at Different Months Nov 12 Apr 13
(Pl =Pt - Pr)


From the Table 4 the reference path loss (d
o
) for the
months is Cell 1. At a distance of 1000m (1km), for the
month of November is 66.3 dB. The value of path loss is
obtained from subtracting power received (Pr) from
power transmitted (Pt) which is 15.0 dBm as shown in
Table 2 of System Link characteristics. The data of the
path loss versus distance at different months was plotted
using Matlab 7.0 program as shown in Figure 3.


Fig 3: Plot of Pathloss vs. Distance for the Months

The status of the variation of signal loss in months is
depicted in the plot in Figure 3. It is evident that the
signal loss in the environment shows a generally
increasing trend with distance. The power reception level
varies with distance and also varies with months. Also
from Figure 3, it can be seen that the signal reception
level for February differ from other months, this
difference can be attributed to attenuation due to the
harmattan.

5. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
To truly characterize propagation pathloss for a specific
cell site values should be established for these parameters:
. ), (
0
n d P
L
. From Table 4 the average path loss at the
reference distance is dB d P
L
3 . 66 ) (
0
= for the month
of November. The path loss exponent n, which
characterizes propagation environment of Amukpe-Sapele
suburban, is obtained from the measured data by the
method of linear regression (LR) analysis [2]. In the LR
analysis the difference between the measured and
predicted pathloss values are usually minimized in a
mean-square sense. The sum of the squared errors is
given by [2].

{ }
2
1
) (

) ( ) (

=
=
K
i
i L i L
d P d P n e
(6)
where ) (
i L
d P is the measured path loss at distance
i
d
and ) (

i L
d P is the estimated path loss obtained using
equation (5). The value of n which minimizes the mean
square error ) (n e is obtained by equating the derivative
of equation (6) to zero and solving for n. Substituting
equation (5) gives:


2
1 0
0
10 ) ( ) ( ) (

=
)
`

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
K
i
i
L i L
d
d
nLog d P d P n e
(7)

Equating the derivative of equation (7) to zero yields


{ }

=
=
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
K
i
i
K
i
L i L
d
d
Log
d P d P
n
1 0
1
0
10
) ( ) (
(8)

Equation (8) is analyzed using Matlab 7.0 to obtain a path
loss exponent n =2.8. This is the path loss exponent
obtained through LR analysis of the measured data.
The monthly path loss exponent: The monthly path loss
exponent was computed with the use of MatLab program
code using the reference distance d
0
for each month. The
result is showcase in Table 5.

Table5: Path loss exponent for Nov 12 April, 2013
Months Exponent (dB)
Nov 2.8674
Dec 2.7696
Jan 2.844
Feb 2.4528
March 2.8596
April 2.9809
Average Exponent n (dB) 2.7957
From table 5, the signal loss on the path of transmission
varies, apart from the month of February which show
lesser exponent as a result of attenuation rate. The
average value n approximates at 2.8 dB is accurate and
good because it falls within the path loss exponent for
urban area cellular radio environment which theoretically
ranges from 2.7 3.5 as shown in Table 1.
International Journal of EmergingTrends & Technology in Computer Science(IJETTCS)
Web Site: www.ijettcs.org Email: editor@ijettcs.org
Volume 3, Issue 3, May June 2014 ISSN 2278-6856


Volume 3, Issue 3 May June 2014 Page 104



Months Nov 12 Apr 13
Fig.4 Rate of Signal Strengths Degradation between Nov
12 Apr 13

The rate of decay of the received signal (path loss
exponent) can be determined from the graphs Figure.4.
The values of the path loss exponent (n) and the intercept
for each month are shown on the graphs. The values of
the path loss exponent (n) and the intercept (I) for each
month are tabulated in the chart. In order to determine
the path loss exponent of this suburban environ, we
propose that the average path loss exponent of the
investigated cells be used as the path loss exponent for
this environment. It was computed as shown in Table 5 as
2.8 dB ; it falls within the path loss exponent for urban
area cellular radio environment which theoretically
ranges from 2.7 3.5. It can be deduced that the rate of
decay of the received signal month was higher in the
month of April, while February had the least attenuation,
which can be attributed to the commencement of rainfall
in the month of April.

6. CONCLUSION
This work was conducted to serve as a preliminary work
on how to investigate variation of a GSM signal strength
using common available equipment. The study revealed
that signal strength is affected by path fading. The
conduct of measurement of power received from GSM
signal in a suburban environment Amukpe Sapele axis
was used as case study. From the measured received
power in this environment, the path loss exponent
phenomenon was determined using regression analysis
with Matlab program to ascertain the rate of signal
attenuation during the dry season period. It was observed
that the month of February had better signal reception
while April had more signal losses. To the system
designer, this unwanted reduction in signal on the
propagation path is best characterized by its path loss
exponent because a unique mean path loss exponent (n) is
assigned to each propagation environment, which is
established by means of the experiment, because what
appropriates in one environment may differ from another.

We recommend that the knowledge and estimates of loss
exponent will enable the engineer determine the signal
strength in error, model and examine the percentage of
how the signal received were affected due to attenuation,
thus this will assist the network designer in carrying out
effective planning for improve service.

References
[1] Ghassemzadeh S.S., R. Jana, C.W. Rice, W. Turin,
and V. Tarokh. (2002). A statistical path loss model
for in-home UWB channels. Ultra Wideband Systems
and Technologies, 2002. Digest of Papers. 2002
IEEE Conference on, vol., no., pp. 59-64.
[2] Moinuddin A.A. and Singh S (2007), Accurate Path
Loss Prediction in Wireless Environment, The
Institution of Engineers (India) Volume 88, July
2007, Pp: 09-13.
[3] Rappaport T. S.(1996), Wireless Communications:
Principles and Practice, Prentice Hall PTR, Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey, 1996.
[4] Rappaport, T. S. (2002). Wireless communications:
Principles and practice. Prentice Hall
communications engineering and emerging
technologies series. Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice
Hall PTR.
[5] Rice, L, A.G Longley, K.A Norton and A.P Basrsis
(1967), Transmission Loss Predictions for
Troposphere Communication Circuits. NBS Tech
Note 101, New York.
[6] Sanjaya Gurung and Jingshu Zhao (1989),
Attenuation of Microwave signal and its Impacts on
Communication system, Paper department of
Electrical Engineering College of Engineering
University of North Texas

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We wish to acknowledge the cooperation of Glo networks
for providing enabling environment for this study. The
relevance of the contribution of references consulted is
also acknowledged.

AUTHOR
Author1 Profile: The first Author holds Master of Science
M.Sc degree in Computer Science from Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka, Nigeria and currently pursuing his
Ph.D in Computer Science. His research interest is in the
study of wireless and data communication. He is a
Chartered member of Computer Professionals
Registration Council of Nigeria MCPN, Member Nigeria
Computer Society MNCS and Microsoft Certified
Professional.

Author 2 Profile:. He is the supervisor to the first author
in his Ph.d research work.