208 Radiowave Propagation and Antennas for Personal Communications

7.3 Empirical Models for Urban Propagation

Propagation in urban and suburban areas is different from the two-ray path in
that a single specular ground reflection rarely exists. Often, even the direct ray
path is obscured as mobiles are often below building roof level on city streets.
Several empirical models have been developed based on measured data and use
curve-fit equations to model propagation in areas of “definable” urbanization.
Often empirical models are city specific and tied to urban land-use maps. The
London model of M. F. Ibrahim and J. D. Parsons [25, 26] is an example of
such a model. Another, more generalized, hence more commonly used, empiri-
cal model is that of Y. Okumura and colleagues [27]. Their model is based on
extensive measurements in the Tokyo, Japan, environs. Because the Okumura
data is well documented and widely known, the model has been extensively
adopted around the world using “correction factors” to force-fit applicability to
regions other than Tokyo.

7.3.1 Okumura Signal Prediction Method

Okumura and colleagues [27] measured signal strengths in the vicinity of
Tokyo, over a wide range frequencies, at several fixed-site and mobile antenna
heights, and over various irregular terrains and environmental clutter condi-
tions. They then generated a set of curves relating field strength to distance for a
range of fixed-site heights at several frequencies. Curves were then generated
that extracted various behaviors in several environments, including the distance
dependence of field strength in open and urban areas, the frequency dependence
of median field strength in urban areas, and urban versus suburban differences.
This led to curves giving a “suburban correction factor,” variation of signal
strength with fixed-station antenna height, and the dependence of mobile
antenna height on signal strength. Additionally, corrections were extracted for
various types of terrain and foliage. The tests were carried out at 200, 435, 922,
1,320, 1,430, and 1,920 MHz. Behavior was extrapolated and interpolated to
frequencies between 100 and 3,000 MHz. The completeness of the study has
made the model a standard in the field [28], but since the data is only available
as curves, it is inconvenient to use, and formulas have been devised to fit the
Okumura curves.

7.3.2 Hata and Modified Hata Formulas

M. Hata [29] prepared a simple formula representation of Okumura’s measure-
ments in the form Loss = A + B log(d ), where A and B are functions of fre-
quency, antenna height, and terrain type, and d is the distance. Hata’s formula
was limited to a frequency range of 100 to 1,500 MHz, distances of between 1
and 20 km, base antenna heights between 30m and 200m, and vehicle antenna
 Radiowave Propagation: Urban and Suburban Paths 209

heights from 1m to 10m. The basic formula for the median path loss was
adopted by the CCIR (Consultive Committee for International Radio) [28] in
the form

. log( f ) − 13.82 log (H b )K 

69.55 + 2616
L ccir =   (7.11)
+[44 .9 − 6.55 log (H b )] log(d ) + a x (H m )

where f is frequency in megahertz, d is distance in kilometers, and Hb is the base

station height in meters. A mobile height correction function, ax(Hm), is applied
for mobile antenna heights. In a “medium” city, Hata’s mobile height correc-
tion takes the form

a m (H m ) = [0.7 − 11
. log( f ) ]H m + 156
. log( f ) − 0.8 (7.12)

while in a large city, at 200 MHz and below, it takes the form

a 2 (H m ) = 11
. − 8.29 log 2 [154
. Hm] (7.13)

At 400 MHz and above, Hata specifies,

a 4 (H m ) = 4 .97 − 3.2 log 2 [1175

. Hm] (7.14)

In suburban areas, Hata gives the path loss Lccir – Lps, where

f 
L ps = − 2 log 2   − 54
. (7.15)
 28 

and in open areas, as Lccir – Lpo, where

L po = − 4 .78 log 2 (f ) + 18.33 log( f ) − 40.94 (7.16)

Modifications can be made to the Hata formulas to improve accuracy rela-

tive to the Okumura curves. Using the assignments in Table 7.2, the accuracy of
the Hata formulas can be enhanced over the entire range of validity of the
Okumura curves.
Transition functions can now be defined by

300 4
F1 = (7.17)
f 4 + 300 4
210 Radiowave Propagation and Antennas for Personal Communications

Table 7.2
Parameters for the Modified Hata Model

Parameter Definition Range of Validity

Lmh Modified Hata propagation median (dB) —

Hb Base antenna height (m) 30–300
Hm Mobile antenna height (m) 1–10
U 0 = small/medium, 1 = large city 0–1
Ur 0 = open area, 0.5 = suburban, 1 = urban area 0–1
B1 Percentage of buildings on the land ( B1 = 15.849 3–50
nominally)
d Range (km) (not beyond radio horizon) 1–100
f Frequency (MHz) 100–3,000

4
f
F2 = (7.18)
300 4 + f 4

Correction for the Earth’s curvature, but propagation not beyond the
radio horizon, is included as

 f   17(H b + 20 )  f − 55
S ks =  27 +  log  2 
+ 13
. − (7.19)
 230  17(H b + 20 ) + d  750

The term Sks is a departure from Hata’s formula but improves accuracy
with respect to the Okumura curves for the larger distances. The suburban/
urban correction can be linearly transitioned using the urbanization parameter
Ur:

S o = (1 − U r )[(1 − 2U r )L po + 4U r L ps ] (7.20)

Combining the height correction functions (7.12) to (7.14) with fre-

quency transition functions (7.17) and (7.18) and a small/large city parameter
U, an overall height correction ax can be written as

a x = (1 − U )a m (H m ) + U [a 2 (H m )F1 + a 4 (H m )F 2 ] (7.21)

One additional term accounting for the percentage of buildings on the

land in the immediate grid under consideration is
 Radiowave Propagation: Urban and Suburban Paths 211

B o = 25 log (B 1 ) − 30 (7.22)

Adding (7.11) and (7.19) through (7.22), the modified Hata formula can
be written as

L mh = − (L ccir + S o − S ks + B o ) (7.23)

Expression (7.23) can now be tested against points from the curves of
Okumura as shown in Figure 7.8. The modified Hata model is seen to be within
about 3 dB of the Okumura data points over the frequency range 100 to 3,000
MHz, for distances from 1 to 100 km and fixed-site antenna heights between
30m and 1,000m.
< [7-3.mcd] Use expressions (7.11) and (7.14) to study the mobile height
gain in a large city for the case where f = 930 MHz, Hb = 100m, d = 5
km, and Hm varies form 1m to 4m. Compare this result to the two-ray
propagation model.
A “universal” propagation chart, nearly independent of frequency, can be
generated from the modified Hata model in terms of field strength rather than
path attenuation. The propagation path loss is stated as the ratio of power

70
- Okumura data 100 Km
Urban area
60 H b = 200m
H m = 3m 60 km
dB, L mh modified Hata model

50

40 20 km

5 km
30
1 km

20

10
10 100 1,000 10,000
Frequency, MHz

Figure 7.8 Comparison of the modified Hata model with Okumura data.
212 Radiowave Propagation and Antennas for Personal Communications

received by a constant (unity) gain antenna to the EIRP transmitted. In those

terms, the received power diminishes as the square of frequency because the
receiver antenna aperture is frequency dependent, as seen in Chapter 9. The
receiver aperture is omitted when field strength is specified, making the modi-
fied Hata formulas roughly frequency independent. Figure 7.9 presents the uni-
versal propagation chart by reporting the median field strength for 1 kW
transmitted by a dipole antenna in a suburban environment with model param-
eters U = 0, Ur = 0.5, and Bl = 15.849. Although produced for 930 MHz, the
field strength reported in Figure 7.8 is conservative by only 0.8 dB at 460 MHz
and 1.6 dB at 160 MHz. Compared with Figure 7.9, the field strength is gener-
ally 8 to 9 dB greater in the U.S. suburban environment, where the parameter
Ur = 0.24.

7.3.3 Ibrahim and Parsons Method: London Model

Ibrahim and Parsons [25, 26] took the approach that propagation in the urban
environment depends on such things as the density of buildings, the heights of
buildings, and land use in general. Furthermore, although mobile radios are
most widely used in urban areas, urban models suffer from an inherent vague-
ness associated with the qualitative description of the urban environment. The

E dB µ V/m
100

90
Free Space Propagation

80
F ield S trength for 6 2 .1 5 dBm E IR P

70 400 m
200 m
60
100 m
Urban
50 Propagation
vs .
antenna height
40
Path Loss = 139.4+20 log( fMHz )− E
30
66 m
20
33 m
10

0
1 2 4 6 8 10 20 40 60 100
Range, km

Figure 7.9 Universal urban-area propagation curves.