Comparison of Propagation Models for GSM 1800 and WCDMA Systems in Selected Urban Areas of Nigeria

A comparative analysis of radio propagation models for wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and global system for mobile communications (GSM) is carried out in this work using a drive test data collected from Kano City coordinates (11°30′N 8°30′E11.5°N 8.5°E) and Abuja City coordinates (9°4′0′′N 7°29′0′′E) in Nigeria, which are all urban areas. The COST 231 has been used in a previous work by this research group and concluded that COST 231 is more suitable for use in the GSM 1800 band for Kano environment. This further research includes the newer and more advanced technology as the deployment is increasing on daily basis worldwide. In all of the measurements taken, path loss was found to vary directly with frequency. It is found that COST 231 and Hata give fairer results for Kano and Abuja environment from our study. It was further noticed that, the suitability in terms of predicting signal level swings between Hata and COST 231 for varying sites and frequency. For both cities, the values of root mean square error (RMSE) and square of correlation value (R) was found to be optimum for GSM 1800 and very high for WCDMA. This means, no generic model is suitable for use, as each model differ in their applicability over different sites and frequency. For effective signal prediction and coverage performance, Hata or COST 231 model need to be modified to suit the environment and the technology.