Evaluation of the new semi-terrain based propagation model recommendation ITU-R P.1546

The International Telecommunication Union has recently developed a new recommendation on the method of point-to-area predictions for terrestrial services in the frequency range 30 MHz to 3000 MHz. It supersedes well-known recommendations such as P.370 and P.529 (modified Okumura-Hata method) used mainly for broadcasting and mobile services, respectively. Since the new recommendation introduces several novel concepts, such as the application of terrain clearance angle within the distance of 10 km, verification of P.1546 by actual measurement results is of great importance. In this paper, prediction by P.1546 is compared to actual propagation measurements obtained by utilising the IS-95 pilot signal of a commercial CDMA mobile network in rural Australia. It is shown that for this environment, the new ITU-R P.1546 prediction model provides better overall prediction of the path loss compared to traditional models such as the Hata model.