Development of a Path Loss Model for Radio Wave Signals for some Selected Routes in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

This research focuses on developing a path loss model for radio wave signals propagating in a wavelength range of 0.37–6.12 m along some selected routes in Enugu state, Nigeria. A cable television signal strength meter was used to measure signal strength at 2 km intervals along the routes. The television signals examined were those from NTA Enugu. Path loss values ​​were derived from the received signal strength for each route. The path loss obtained was plotted against the distance and the result shows that the path loss increases with the distance along each of the routes. A path loss model was developed by analyzing the path loss variation with distance. The path loss values ​​obtained from the developed model were plotted against the distance and compared with the measured path losses for the NTA signals to assess how accurate the model is for the path loss prediction at the study locations. Some statistical tools (RMSE, ME, and SDE) were used to validate the developed model. The model predicted the path loss of NTA-Enugu signals with RMSE very close to zero (0). In addition, the values ​​of the developed path loss model for the NTA signals were compared with the values ​​of other empirical models. The results show that the other empirical path loss models overestimate the path loss of NTA-Enugu signals.