On the Performance of Mobile WiMAX System: Measurement and Propagation Studies

In this paper, we present drive test results for mobile WiMAX system for desert and cosmopolitan terrains where there are few studies reported in the literature. The extensive measurement is performed in the framework of the physical performance of the WiMAX technology which is often considered as a 4G system. Path loss model is fitted for the collected data. The work is unique in the sense that most empirical channel models are produced in regions where the environments (weather, buildings, vegetation, among others) are quite different from the desert terrains that are considered in this study. We also show that shadowing is truly lognormal in dB and the standard deviation values are calculated for the desert terrain from the measurement data. The measurements are collected using WiMAX BS station, with greenpacket dongle, and NEMO versatile outdoor drive test equipment to evaluate and characterize the performance of the system. The received signal strength indicators measured, are analyzed to complement network design and network optimization for regions where the popular models may not be accurate.