Street‐Scale Mapping of Urban Radio Frequency Noise at Very High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency

Abstract

AbstractModern measurement campaigns of man‐made radio frequency (RF) noise have reported results from fixed locations that are assumed to be representative of the surroundings. Models derived from these measurements include parameters to express the variability in time and in space over very large distances (i.e., differences between cities). Despite the rapidly evolving mixture of noise sources, especially in modern urban environments, spatial variation of RF noise power at the scale of streets and blocks is essentially unknown in the very high frequency and ultra high frequency bands. Using a portable calibrated noise measurement system of our design, RF noise was recorded over a 1‐MHz bandwidth for frequencies of 142.0, 246.5, and 972 MHz. Noise surveys were conducted during daytime working hours in two different neighborhoods within Boston, Massachusetts, USA, with each survey transiting a fixed, several kilometer long route, repeated twice to enable separation of temporal from spatial variability. Significant and spatially repeatable variations in median power, peak power, and voltage deviation were observed over distances of tens to hundreds of meters, dependent upon the measurement frequency. The observed spatial patterns of median and peak power appear to be repeatable on timescales of hours to weeks, and likely beyond, suggesting that these noise patterns are persistent features of the urban environment.