A statistical channel model for fixed WiMax in urban residential areas

Abstract

Fixed worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMax) service finds application for broadband internet accessibility in most of the developing countries. WiMax signal path loss prediction is an important parameter in design and implementation of WiMax network. This paper presents characterization of propagation path losses for a typical fixed WiMax network at 2.62 GHz in a residential area of Belgaum city of Karnataka, India. The proposed models are backed by extensive received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurements using customer premises equipment (CPE) at the customer end. Propagation characterization is carried out using log distance path loss model for the planned residential region in the urban precincts. New statistical path loss prediction models are developed for both line-of-sight (LOS) and non line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios. However, presented models can be applied to CPE antenna placed at variable heights which is not well covered by existing models. Results show that the performance of the proposed models is significantly better than the existing Stanford University Interim (SUI), COST-231, and Lee-propagation models. Results also reveal that the mean path loss and path loss exponents are less for the CPE antenna heights of 15–20 m.