An empirical model for high elevation angle land-mobile satellite channels at urban environment

A land mobile satellite system (LMSS) propagation measurement campaign at 1.8 GHz was launched in Athens city center during June 1996 for high elevation angle (60/spl deg/, 70/spl deg/ and 80/spl deg/) channels. Four narrow streets with large building blocks and heavy traffic were tested. A new empirical model is extracted to calculate the link margin required to compensate for multipath fading in urban environments. A comparison with an existing model is presented. The results show a considerable increase in the fade depth compared to suburban and rural environments. In general, the fade depth decreases with increasing elevation angle, and the overall analysis indicates a strong dependence of the signal attenuation on the width of the streets, the average building height and the vegetation at the edges of the streets.