An evaluation of Quasi-Moment-Method calibrated pathloss models for Benin City Nigeria

Abstract

This paper introduces the Quasi-Moment-Method (QMM) as a novel radiowave propagation pathloss model calibration tool, and evaluates its performance, using field measurement data from different cellular mobile communication network sites in Benin City, Nigeria. The QMM recognizes the suitability of component parameters of existing basic models for the definition of ‘expansion’ and ‘testing functions’ in a Galerkin approach, and simulations were carried out with the use of a FORTRAN program developed by the authors, supported by matrix inversion in the MATLAB environment. Computational results reveal that in terms of both Root Mean Square (RMS) and Mean Prediction (MP) errors, QMM-calibrated models performed much better than an ‘optimum’ model reported for the NIFOR (Benin City), by a recent publication. As a matter of fact, the QMM-calibrated COST231 (rural area) model recorded reductions in RMS error of between 31.5% and 71% compared with corresponding metrics due to the aforementioned ‘optimum’ model. The simulation results also revealed that of the five basic models (COST231-rural area and suburban city, ECC33 (medium and large sized cities), and Ericsson models) utilized as candidates, the two ECC33 models, whose performances were consistently comparable, represented the best models for QMM-model calibration in the Benin City environments investigated.