Field Measurement and Empirical Models for Radio Signal Propagation Prediction in Baghdad

Mobile communications businesses have grown rapidly through recent years. In front of this development, quality of services may consider as a big challenge. Accordingly, the need for optimization in all mobile networks' aspects is essential. The optimization starts from good planning which provides a good coverage area and hence the best signal quality. An important factor that playing the fundamental's role in characterizing accurately the environment is the appropriate propagation model. In this work, an empirical model is being selected to characterize two regions, urban and suburban areas. The selected model will be adapted to analyze the performance of 2G and 3G mobile networks that are currently operated in Baghdad city. An extensive drive and walk test are conducted to collect the field measurement data. After comparative analyses between the simulated and the measured data, the results clarify that; Cost231-Hata model is the most suitable propagation model for the 2G network in all environment. Cost231-Hata model achieves the least Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) equals to 3.37dB and 2.24dB for urban and suburban respectively. For the 3G network, Cost231-Hata model achieves the least RMSE equals to 8.17dB in an urban environment, while the ITU model is determined to be the suitable model for the suburban environment with RMSE equals to 4.45dB.