Development of a Wireless Model Incorporating Largescale Fading in a Rural, Urban and Suburban Environment

The goal of this research is to develop a more realistic estimate of received signal strength level as calculated by OPNET. The goal is accomplished by replacing the existing free-space pathloss model used by OPNET with the Hata and COST-231 pathloss models. The calculated received signal strength using the new models behaves similarly to the measured values, with a 0.245 dB difference for 880 MHz and a 1.365 dB difference for 1922 MHz between the pathloss slopes. There is an 11.3 dBm difference between the initial starting signal strength from the calculated values and the measured values. An important aspect of a wireless communication system is the planning process. The planning phase of a wireless communication system will determine the number of necessary transmitting antennas, the frequency to be used for communications, and ultimately the cost of the entire project. Because of the possible expense of these factors it is important that the planning stage of any wireless communications project produce an accurate calculation of the coverage area.