Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2014 Vol I,

WCE 2014, July 2 - 4, 2014, London, U.K.

LTE Network Planning using the Hata-Okumura

and the COST-231 Hata Pathloss Models
N.S Nkordeh, A.A.A Atayero, F.E Idachaba, O.O Oni, Members, IAENG

Abstract— this paper takes a look at two of the most OFDMA splits the spectrum into smaller subcarriers
common radio propagation models used in determining the closely spaced and orthogonal to each other for transmission
radio coverage, with regards to Long Time Evolution, LTE. of a single data stream using prevailing modulation schemes.
These models are the Okumura-Hata and the COST-231 Hata As compared to single-carrier system where a deep fade in
models. A comparative analysis through mathlab simulation power level or an interferer can be sufficient to terminate
for both models at different frequencies and base station
heights are looked into. the link between the transmitter and the receiver, in OFDM
systems, only a few of the subcarriers are disturbed which
Index Terms — Radio Propagation model, Path loss, allows transmission through subcarriers that are not affected.
Okumura, Okumura-Hata, COST-231-Hata OFDMA utilizes the spectrum division of OFDMA by
allocating subsets of the
Carriers to individual users. This allows a flexible use of
bandwidth with conventional equipment.
I. INTRODUCTION LTE thrives to achieve the following:

T HIS paper takes a look at some of the radio propagation

models used in designing radio channels, and gives a
Mathlab simulation of two-Okumra-Hata model and the
1. Increased uplink and downlink packet data rate
2. Scalable bandwidth
3. Improved spectral efficiency
COST-231 Hata model, which can be readily applied in 4. All IP network
LTE.The simulation is done using three different 5. A standard based interface that can support a multitude
environments. The result is discussed. of user type
For the LTE deployment, an understanding of the radio
channel is paramount, and modelling of this channel using
Long Time Evolution, LTE is a standard for wireless the most appropriate propagation model is very important.
communication of high-speed data for mobile terminal; it is The radio propagation models are very significant while
based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network planning for any wireless communication system. The radio
technologies, increasing the capacity and speed using a propagation model describes the behaviour of the signal
different radio interface together with core network while it is transmitted from the transmitter towards the
improvement. LTE is developed for a number of frequency receiver, and the path loss .It gives a relation between the
bands ranging from 800MHz to 3.5Hz.The available distances of the transmitter. The Path loss models are
bandwidth available are also flexible starting from 1.25 important for predicting coverage area, interference analysis,
MHz to 20 MHz, and supports both the Time Division frequency assignments and cell parameters which are basic
Duplex (TDD) as well as Frequency Division Duplex elements for network planning process in mobile radio. Path
(FDD).It uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple loss refers to electromagnetic wave attenuation between
Access (OFDMA) in the downlink and Single-Carrier transmitter and receiver in the communication system. It
Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) for uplink, could be due to effects such as diffraction, refraction,
supporting a download speed of about 100Mbps and upload reflection, free space loss, coupling loss and
speed of 50Mbps. absorption .Path loss depends on the condition of the
environment(urban, urban, rural, dense, open,etc),operating
frequency , atmospheric conditions.
Manuscript received March 24, 2014; revised April 16, 2014.
N. S. Nkordeh is with Department of Electrical and Information
The ability to predict the minimum power necessary to
Engineering Covenant University, P.M.B. 1023 Ota, Ogun State. Nigeria transmit from a given base station at a given frequency, and
(phone: 806-312-7827; (e-mail: [email protected]). to provide an acceptable quality of coverage over a
A. A. A. Atayero is with Department of Electrical and Information
predetermined service area, and to estimate the effect of
Engineering Covenant University, P.M.B. 1023 Ota, Ogun State. Nigeria
(e-mail: [email protected]). such transmission on existing adjacent services is crucial for
F. E. Idachaba is with Department of Electrical and Information the improvement of the frequency reuse and the
Engineering Covenant University, P.M.B. 1023 Ota, Ogun State. Nigeria implementation of band sharing schemes between different
(e-mail: [email protected]).
O. O. Oni is with Department of Electrical and Information Engineering services. There is a need for a better understanding of the
Covenant University, P.M.B. 1023 Ota, Ogun State. Nigeria (e-mail: influence of the different urban and terrain factors on
[email protected]).
the mobile radio signal and its variability. The radio
wave propagation model or path loss model plays a

ISBN: 978-988-19252-7-5 WCE 2014

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2014 Vol I,
WCE 2014, July 2 - 4, 2014, London, U.K.

very important role in planning of any wireless carried out by Y. Okumura in 1960.It is used for a frequency
communication system range of 150MHz to 1500MHz
The Okumura model takes note of three terrains
/environment:
For LTE, the radio channel technology proposed should Open area: defined as Open space, no tall trees or
have the following property building in path.
 Multi-carrier technology Suburb area: defined as Villages, highway scattered with
 Multiple –antenna technology trees and houses, some obstacles near the mobile
 Utilization of packet-switching for radio interference. Urban area: defined as large settlement with high building
having two or more storeys, or big villages having buildings
There are three main types of path loss model close to each other and huge trees (Built up city or large
1) Empirical Model town with large buildings and houses)
2) Stochastic Model/ Statistical model also know as Semi-
deterministic model Okumura used the urban area as a standard model and
3) Deterministic Model introduced correction factors for application of the model to
other categories. The empirical path loss formula devised by
Okumura, expressed in terms of dB at carrier frequency
The empirical models are derived from measurement and and distance is given by
observations while the deterministic model starts from the
electromagnetic wave equation to determine the received
....................... (3)
signal power at a particular location. Deterministic model
provides a reliable and thorough estimation of the path Where
losses and the channel characteristics, but often require a
complete three-dimensional map of the propagation
environment. Aμ=Median of pathloss addition to free space pathloss in
The different types of path loss propagation models
urban area with quaisi-smooth terrain
II. FREE SPACE MODEL
Free Space Path loss (FSPL) is the loss in signal strength
of a electromagnetic wave that would result from a line-of
sight path through free space(usually air), with no obstacles
nearby to cause reflection or diffraction. It does not take Okumura derived and
into consideration the gain of the antennas used at the
transmitter and receiver. . ....... (4)

The Free Space path loss is given by

.......... (1)
Taking log of (1)
..... ..... (5)
(2)
IV. OKUMURA-HATA MODEL
This model empirically formulates Okumura model by
utilizing the graphical information retrieved by
Okumura.Just like in the Okumura model, the applicable
frequency range for the Okumura-Hata model is also 150 to
1500MHz, provides three separate formulae for each type
of environment, namely: Urban area, Suburban areas and
This equation is only accurate in the far-field where
open area
spherical spreading can be assumed; it is not
applicable when the receiver is close to the transmitter
For urban area, Okumura-Hata formulated the path
loss as follows

III. OKUMURA MODEL )-

Okumura Model is the most widely used radio frequency
13.82 )
propagation model for predicting the behaviour of cellular
transmission in urban area. This is based on measurement .............. (6)

ISBN: 978-988-19252-7-5 WCE 2014

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2014 Vol I,
WCE 2014, July 2 - 4, 2014, London, U.K.

The COST-231 Hata’s model proposed the following

formula to extend the Hata’s model to 2GHz.The parameter
is defined as 0dB for suburban or open environment
= correction factor for mobile antenna length. This Factor and 3dB for urban environment
depends upon the coverage are. If the city is small to COST-231 Hata model contains corrections for urban,
suburban and rural (flat) environment.
medium sized, this factor in dB can be given as The term is defined for urban and suburban
environment respectively as

VI. RESULTS

A simulation was done in Mathlab to compare the path

loss between the Okumura-Hata and the COST-231 Hata
models for three different frequencies (1000MHz, 1500MHz
V. COST-231 HATA MODEL & 2000MHz) and for different base station antenna heights,
and the following results were obtained.

The COST-231 Hata radio propagation model is an The vertical axis represents the Path loss in dB, the
extension of the Hata-Okumura model. The path loss for the horizontal axis represent the link distance in km.
COST-231 Hata Model is mathematically given as A = large urban htr =30m, B = large urban htr =100m,
C = suburban htr =30m, D = large urban htr =200m, E =
suburban htr =100m, F = suburban htr =200m G= rural htr
=30m, H= rural htr =100m, I= rural htr 200m,

NOTE: This model is limited to cases where the base

station antenna is placed higher than the surrounding
building. Fig.1, COST-231 Hata model for frequency 1000MHz

ISBN: 978-988-19252-7-5 WCE 2014

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2014 Vol I,
WCE 2014, July 2 - 4, 2014, London, U.K.

Fig.5, COST-231 Hata model for frequency 2000MHz

Fig.2, Okumura model for frequency 1000MHz

Fig.3, COST-231 Hata model for frequency 1500MHz Fig.6, Okumura model for frequency 2000MHz

VII. CONCLUSION

The simulations were done for frequencies of

1000MHz, 1500MHz & 2000MHz, and link distances
of 30m, 100m & 200m. For both Okumura-Hata and
COST-231, the path loss is lowest when the mobile is
nearest to the base station. From the result of the
simulation, it can be seen that the path loss graphs
apparently look similar especially for frequencies
1000MHz and 1500MHz, but on a keener inspection it
is noticed that for antenna height of 200m, the path
loss for COST-231 Hata model is lower than
Okumura-Hata model in urban environment than other
Fig.4, Okumura model for frequency 1500MHz environment. It can be seen from the plot that the higher the
antenna base station height, the better the path loss in both
COST-231 Hata Model

ISBN: 978-988-19252-7-5 WCE 2014

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2014 Vol I,
WCE 2014, July 2 - 4, 2014, London, U.K.

The Path loss model for COST-231 Hata gives a better [14] ‘Tuning of COST-231 Hata model for Radio wave propagation’ by
Chhaya Dalela1, M V S N Prasad2, P K Dalela
path loss value for the urban environment, which is the most
realistic of the three terrains since the practical propagation
environment is the urban.

The simulation shows that for a good radio propagation,

where path loss will be minimized, the COST-231 Hata
model should be used in LTE since the frequency range
extends to 2000MHz.The result shows that the higher the
height of the base station antenna, the lower the path loss
expected, especially in the urban

In LTE deployment, for better performance, high

antennas should be used, while COST-231 Hata model
should be used as the radio propagation model since it
presents better results. The model does not give a good
result for antenna height less that 50m as is seen from the
graphs above

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ISBN: 978-988-19252-7-5 WCE 2014

ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)