Ground-Based Urban Channel Characteristics for Two Public Safety Frequency Bands 1

We report on ground-based wireless channel characteristics for an urban environment in two public safety bands. Results are based upon measurements taken in Denver in June 2009. The public safety bands we investigated are the 700 MHz and 4.9 GHz bands, both planned for public safety and “emergency responder” applications. Measurements employed a vector network analyzer, from which both path loss and delay dispersion characteristics were obtained for link distances up to approximately 100 m. Log-distance models for path loss are presented, and proposed dispersive channel models are also described. By mounting the transmitter on a positioner, we introduced spatial diversity into the measurement system which enabled analyzing the dispersion characteristics of the angle-of-departure as well. α Ohio University, School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Athens, OH, 45701 USA (email matolak@ohiou.edu ) β National Institute of Standards & Technology, Dept. of Commerce, Electromagnetics Division, Boulder, CO, 80305 USA (email: kate.remley@nist.gov ) γ National Institute of Standards & Technology, Dept. of Commerce, Information Technology Laboratory, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899 USA (email: camillo.gentile@nist.gov) 1 Partial work of the U.S. government, not subject to copyright in the United States