Measurements of microcellular propagation loss at 6 GHz and 2 GHz over non-line-of-sight paths in the city of Boston

Abstract

We describe a series of microcellular radio propagation measurements at 2 GHz and 6 GHz from the city of Boston. The measurements were made during the winter season in both rectilinear and curvilinear areas of the city using a mobile receiver driven along all passable streets under normal traffic conditions. We define circular or diamond-shaped coverage areas (depending on the environment), where 90% of the measured area has a path loss (or attenuation) less than some specified level, and compare our measured path loss to that predicted by existing diamond-shaped rectilinear area models based on reflection and diffraction of the signal by the environment. Excellent agreement is found in the rectilinear areas. When compared to the rectilinear areas, the curvilinear areas show a larger coverage at lower path losses. This difference can be explained by the distribution of reflected and diffracted paths due to the particular street geometry of the curvilinear area.