Effect of path loss model on received signal: Using Greater Accra, Ghana as case study

Globalization has been greatly supported by wireless applications and as a result, African countries have connectivity to other parts of the world through satellite for instance. On a national level, wireless applications have proved to be invaluable where mobile services can be the means by which lives can be saved. In a developing country such as Ghana, mobile services are used not only in entrepreneurial activities, but are a means for enhancing the quality of life. Whereas wireless transmitters and receivers can be designed based on specifications, the structures of buildings considering parameters such as height and slopes of roofs vary considerably from place to place. It therefore becomes imperative to evaluate the propagation through the radio space particularly in places where such differences are observed in close proximity. This paper presents a study of propagation in the Greater Accra region of Ghana where some sections have structures of relatively similar heights close to areas where building heights greatly vary. The study is done employing the Hata-Okumura model which is widely used in telecommunications industry, particularly in West Africa. A comparative study on path loss between Hata-Okumura model, and measurement data using the received power obtained from Base station in a Code Division Multiple Access-2000 (CDMA2000^®) cellular network in Ghana has been carried out. The analysis shows that Hata-Okumura prediction for suburban area (University of Ghana) response achieved is close to the measurement plot. Hata-Okumura prediction models applied in urban (medium city) and rural (open) areas for the selected areas such as Osu and Tema respectively in Greater Accra (GA) region show a little agreement. Osu and Tema are each more densely populated and have buildings that have more variation in height than the suburban area of University of Ghana.