Propagation studies for 1.8 GHz personal communications: analysis of macrocell measurements

In late 1989, licences were issued for the next generation of mobile phones, known as personal communication networks (PCNs). Existing cellphone services operate in the UHF band at around 950 MHz. However, PCN systems will utilise the microwave band in the region of 1.5 to 2.5 GHz. Propagation characteristics for mobile systems at this higher frequency are not so well understood, and uncertainties exist over the spatial and temporal variability of PCN coverages in this new band. In addition, it is not clear whether existing path loss prediction models will maintain their accuracy if used at higher frequencies. To explore these uncertainties, GEC-Marconi Research Centre (MRC) is carrying out a comprehensive set of narrowband field strength measurements and analyses. The results from this study will be made available to the NRPP technical working parties (terrain diffraction and mobile radio). The paper will describe the measurement programme and the results of one part of the measurement analysis-the comparison of measured and predicted field strengths