PATH LOSS

Definition of Path Loss

Path loss includes all of the lossy effects
associated with distance
Transmitter
Transmit
Power, P
t
Feeder Loss
L
t
Receiver
Received
Power, P
r
Feeder Loss
L
r
Antenna Gain
G
t
Antenna Gain
G
r
Path Loss
L

P
ti
P
ri
[Saunders,`99]
Motivation
Need path loss to determine range of operation (using a
link budget)
This module considers two cases,
Free space
Flat earth
Received Power
The power appearing at the receiver input terminals is
All gains G and losses L are expressed as power ratios
and the powers are in Watts
r t
r t t
r
LL L
G G P
P =
dBm and dBW
Powers may also be expressed in
dBm, the number of dB the power exceeds 1 milliwatt
dBW, the number of dB the power exceeds 1 Watt.
Watts
P
P
r
r
3
10
10
(in Watts)
log 10 dBm) (in
!
=
!""#$% &

'
!"#$%$&$'%( '# )%$&(
*+ ,-.&$'/
0 JB = 1ulog
P
cut
P
in
*+0 ,)%$& 1'%2"3($'%/
P
out
JBm = 1ulog
P
cut
1mw
*+4 ,)%$& 1'%2"3($'%/
P
out
JBw = 1ulog
P
cut
1w
!"# $%! !"&
1w = 1ulog
1w
1w
JBw = 1ulog1JBw = 1u uJBw
= uJBw
1mw = 1ulog
1mw
1mw
JBm = 1ulog1JBm = 1u uJBm
= uJBm
!"# !"$
1w = 1ulog
1w
1mw
JBm = 1ulog1u
3
JBm = S 1u 1JBm
= SuJBm = uJBw
1mw = 1ulog
1mw
1w
JBw = 1ulog1u
-3
JBw = -S 1u 1JBw
= -SuJBw = uJBm
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P
out
= P
n
0
w = (w) ( )
P
out
= P
n
+ 0
JBm = JBm + (JB)
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EIRP
The effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) is
The effective isotropic received power is
t
t t
ti
L
G P
P =
L
EIRP
G
L P
P
r
r r
ri
= =
Antenna Gains
Antenna gain may be expressed in dBi or dBd
dBi: maximum radiated power relative to an isotropic antenna
dBd: maximum radiated power relative to a half-wave dipole
antenna
A half-wave dipole has a peak gain of 2.15 dBi
Path Loss
The path loss is the ratio of the EIRP to the
effective isotropic received power
Path loss is independent of system parameters
except for the antenna radiation pattern
The pattern determines which parts of the environment
are illuminated
ri
ti
P
P
L =
Free-Space Path Loss
In the far-field of the transmit antenna, the free-space path
loss is given by
The far-field is any distance d from the antenna, such that
2
2 2
) 4 (
!
" d
L =
!
!
>> >> >> d D d
D
d and , ,
2
2
where D is the largest dimension of the antenna.
Power and Electric Field
The peak power flux density (W/m
2
) in free space:
This holds in the neighborhood (but far field) of
transmitters on towers
!
=
!
=
= = =
377 120
4 4
2 2
2
2 2
E E
E
d L
G P
d
EIRP
P
t
t t
d
"
# " "
where |E| = envelope of the electric field in V/m
Effective Aperture
Antenna gain may be expressed in terms of
effective aperture, A
e
For aperture antennas, such as dish
antennas, , where is the antenna
efficiency and A is the area of the aperture
The aperture intercepts the power flux density

2
4
!
"
e
A
G =
e d ri
A P P =
! A A
e
=
!
Flat Earth (2-Ray) Model
If there is a line-of-sight (LOS) path, then the second
strongest path is the ground bounce
LOS
Ground
Bounce
Transmitter
Receiver
Typical Relative Dimensions
d>>h
t
, d>>h
r
for a typical mobile communications
geometry

LOS
Ground
Bounce
Transmitter
Receiver
h
t
h
r
d

Field Near Transmitter
Let the field at a distance d
o
in the neighborhood of, but
also in the far field of, the transmit antenna be E(d
o
,t) , and
its envelope be E
o

Assuming the transmitter is high enough,
The field at some other distance d>d
o
is
!
!
120
4
2
2
o
o t
t t
E
d L
G P
=
!
!
"
#
$
$
%
&
'
(
)
*
+
,
- =
c
d
t
d
d E
t d E
c
o o
. cos ) , (
Low Grazing Angle
At such a low (grazing) angle of incidence (!=a
few degrees), the reflection coefficient is -1 for
horizontal polarization
Transmitter
Receiver
! !
#= 1
Field at Receiver
The direct and bounce paths add coherently
d
h
t
h
r
d

d
1

d
2

2 1
) , ( ) , ( ) , (
d d d
t d E t d E t d E
TOT
! !
+
! !
=
! !
! !
"
!
=
#= 1
Long Baseline Effects
Since d is so large,
!
"
!
#
$
!
%
!
&
'
(
(
)
*
+
+
,
-
. =
!
"
!
#
$
!
%
!
&
'
. /
!
"
!
#
$
!
%
!
&
'
0 0
.
!
"
!
#
$
!
%
!
&
'
0
=
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 . 0 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 0
.
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 0
.
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
.
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 0
.
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
.
1 Re
Re
Re Re ) , (
c
d d
j
c
d
t j
o o
c
d
t j
c
d
t j
o o
c
d
t j
o o c
d
t j
o o
c c
c c
c c
e e
d
d E
e e
d
d E
e
d
d E
e
d
d E
t d E
7 7
7 7
7 7
d d d
1 1 1
!
" "
!
"
A Trick
Pull an exponential with half the phase out to make a sine
!
"
!
#
$
!
%
!
&
'
(
(
)
*
+
+
,
-
.
/
0
1
2
3
4
5
4 4
=
!
"
!
#
$
!
%
!
&
'
(
(
(
)
*
+
+
+
,
-
5
.
/
0
1
2
3
4 5 4 4
.
/
0
1
2
3
4 4
5
.
/
0
1
2
3
4 5 4 4
5
.
/
0
1
2
3
4 5 4 4
.
/
0
1
2
3
4 5 4 4
.
/
0
1
2
3
4 4
5
c
d d
j e e
d
d E
j
e e
j e e
d
d E
c
c
d d
j
c
d
t j
o o
c
d d
j
c
d d
j
c
d d
j
c
d
t j
o o
c c
c c
c c
2
sin Re
2
2
2 Re
2
2 2
2
6
6 6
6 6
6 6
Field Envelope at Receiver
Recall d>d
The envelope of the field is then
Can show that , and
!
!
"
#
$
$
%
&
'
(
)
*
+
,
-
.
- -
=
c
d d
d
d E
E
c
o o
TOT
2
sin
2
/
d
h h
d d
r t
2
!
"
#
" "
!
"
#
$
%
&
'
(
' '
)
*
*
+
,
-
-
.
/
!
"
#
$
%
&
'
(
' '
c
d d
c
d d
c c
2 2
sin 0 0
Power Received
Making the substitutions yields
The power received is
d
h h
d
d E
E
r t o o
TOT
!
" 2 2
=
!
!
"
#
$
$
%
&
!
!
"
#
$
$
%
&
= =
'
(
' 4 120
2
2
r
TOT
e d ri
G
E
A P P
Flat Earth Path Loss
Recalling
gives

The flat earth path loss is therefore
!
!
120
4
2
2
o
o t
t t
E
d L
G P
=
4
2 2
d L
h h G G P
P
t
r t r t t
ri
=
2 2
4
r t
h h
d
L =
10 100 1000 10000
Path Length, d (m)
10
100
1000
P
a
t
h

L
o
s
s

(
d
B
)
Propagation path loss L
p (dB)
with distance over a at reecting surface;
h
b
= 7.5 m, h
m
= 1.5 m, f
c
= 1800 MHz.
L
p
=

c
4d

2
4sin
2

2h
b
h
m

c
d

1
6
1
1
In reality, the earths surface is curved and rough, and the signal
strength typically decays with the inverse power of the distance,
and the received power is

p
= k

t
d

where k is a constant of proportionality. Expressed in units of dBm,

the received power is

p (dBm)
= 10log
10
(k) +
t (dBm)
10log
10
(d)
is called the path loss exponent. Typical values of are have been
determined by empirical measurements for a variety of areas
Terrain
Free Space 2
Open Area 4.35
North American Suburban 3.84
North American Urban (Philadelphia) 3.68
North American Urban (Newark) 4.31
Japanese Urban (Tokyo) 3.05
7
1
Using a Reference Power Measurement
Suppose that a reference measurement of
received power, P
o
, is taken at some point in the
far field of the antenna
Then the power taken at some more distant point
may be expressed relative to the reference
power:
n
o
o ri
d
d
P P
!
"
#
$
%
&
=
Summary
Free space path loss depends only on distance and
wavelength, and falls off as 1/d
2
Flat earth path loss
depends also on the antenna heights, and falls off as 1/d
4

Has a pretty good fit to urban and suburban environments, even
though it is an idealization, derived only for horizontal polarization
The power of d is called the path loss exponent
For mobile comm, this exponent is typically between 3.5
and 4
References
[Saunders,`99] Simon R. Saunders, Antennas
and Propagation for Wireless Communication
Systems, John Wiley and Sons, LTD, 1999.
[Rapp, 96] T.S. Rappaport, Wireless
Communications, Prentice Hall, 1996
[Lee, 98] W.C.Y. Lee, Mobile Communications
Engineering, McGraw-Hill, 1998