Signal strength measurements at 915 MHz and 1920 MHz in an outdoor microcell environment

Signal strength measurements were conducted for unmodulated tones at 915 MHz and 1920 MHz in order to characterize the behavior of narrowband signals in an outdoor microcell environment. Distances between the base and the mobile up to 400 m, with base antenna heights of 3.5 m and 7 m were covered. The mobile antenna height was 2 m. The propagation data was collected in three different environments, representative of residential, business, and downtown areas. The raw data is presented in the form of received signal strength vs. distance. The analyzed data includes mean path losses, excess path losses, and statistical characterization of the fading channel. Principal conclusions were: differential mean path losses between 915 MHz and 1920 MHz were higher than expected, typically 8 dB to 15 dB. Shadowing losses observed had sigmas between 3.6 dB and 6.2 dB, which are lower than those typically encountered in cellular radio