IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. VT-29, NO.
3, AUGUST 1980
Empirical Formula for Propagation Loss in
Land Mobile Radio Services
Abstract-An empirical formula for propagation loss isderived
from Okumura’sreport in order to put his propagation prediction
method to computationaluse. The propagation loss in an urban area is
presented in a simple form: A + B l o g R, where A and B are frequency
and antenna beight functions and R is the distance. The a irt
o d d
formula is applicable to system designs for UHF and VHF land mobile
rpdio ~enices,with a d formulationerror,underthefoUowing
conditiom: frequency range 100-1500 MHz, distaace 1-20 km, base
station antenna height 30-2@0 m, and vehicular antenna height 1-10 m.
I. INTRODUCTION
I N SYSTEM PLANNINGforlandmobileradio service or
service quality evaluation, it is indispensable to determine
thepropagationcharacteristics. By using manyexperimental
results and by statistical data processing, many authors have
developed nomograms and charts to permit the calculation of
expected field strengths from a given transmitter at chosen re-
ceiver locations [ 11 -[7] and made it clear that the propaga-
tion loss shows logarithmic behavior to the distance. Of all the
studies, Okumura’s report [ l ] is very practical, because it care-
fully arranges field strength and service area. Not only is the
report usedas comparisondatawithotherauthors’reports
[ 8 ] - [ l o ] ,b u t also thepropagationpredictionmethods
the report have become standard for planning in today’s land
mobile systems in Japan [ 1 11 , [ 121 .
In Okumura’spredictionmethod,prediction curves for a
basic median field strength were given with these parameters:
base stationeffectiveantenna height hb frequency f,,and
vehicular station antenna height h,. Fig. 1 shows one of these
curves. When malung a system plan using this method, there-
fore, it is necessary to select the curves according to f,,hb, and
h,. It is more cumbersome to use these curves, represented by
1 kW effectiveradiatedpower(ERP)perdipole,sinceit
necessary to convert the value to the transmitter’s power. Un-
der these circumstances, even though the method is practical
in theactualwork stage such as radio zone estimation, it is
awkward to use directly in the system planning stage required
to fit the parameters best.
In this report, to make computational use ofOkumura’s
prediction methods in system planning, an empirical formula
forpropagationloss,whichcorresponds to freespace loss
often usedin UHF futedradio communication system plan-
ning, is derived from the prediction curves. In order to avoid
complication,the following points were considered in its
formulation.
Manuscript received May 7, 1979; revised January 29, 1980.
The author is with the Mobile Communication Equipment Section,
ElectricalCommunicationLaboratories,NipponTelegraphandTele-
phone Public Corporation, 1-2356,Take, Yokisuka-shi, Kanagawa-ken,
238-03,Japan. Telephone 0468-59-2794.
0018-9545/80/0800-0317$00.75 0 1980 IEEE
317
1) Propagation loss between isotropic antennasis treated.
2) Quasi-smooth terrain, not irregular,is treated.
3) The urbanarea propagation loss is presented as the stand-
ard formula.Forotherareas,acorrectionequation to
the standard is prepared.
11. PROPAGATION LOSS AND EMIPRICAL FORMULA
A. Propagation Loss Between Isotropic Antennas
When the effective radiated power of an isotropic antenna
is Pt (dBW: EIRP) and the received field strength of an isotro-
pic antenna is E (dBpV/m), the propagation loss L , (dB) be-
tween these isotropic antennasis obtained as follows.
If A H is the absorption cross sectionof an isotropic antenna
and P, is the received power density, the received powerP, is
given by
Pr (dBm) = P, (dBm/m2) + 10 logl ( A e f f ) (1)
where
A,R = A2/4n, A: wavelength (m).
in
P, (dBm/m2) = E (dBpV/m) - 10 loglo (120n) - 90.
Since the propagation loss is the difference value between the
radiated power and the received power, using (1) we obtain
Lp (dB) = P, - Pr
= P, (dBW) - E (dBpV/m) - 10 log1 0 (x2/4n)
+ 145.8. (2)
is
B. Okumura’s PredictionCurves and Propagation Loss
As Okumura’spredictioncurves give the receivedfield
strength at 1 kW ERP/dipole, it is necessary to transform the
unitfromERP/dipole to EIRP. This transformation is ac-
complished by adding the difference value for power gain be-
tween the isotropic antenna and the dipole antenna. Since the
absolute power gain of the dipole antenna is 2.2 dB, then
P, (dBW EIRP) = P,‘ (dBW ERP/dipole) + 2.2 (dB).(3)
When P,‘ is 1 kW (ElW/dipole), therefore, P, (dBW EIRP) is
32.2 dB.
Using (2) and (3), the progapation loss L , (dB) between the
isotropicantennas is given bythepredictioncurvesandthe
following equation:
L p (dB) = 178 - 10 loglo (x2/4n) - E (dBpV/m). (4)
318 TRANSACTIONS
IEEE
VEHICULAR
ON
TECHNOLOGY,
VOL. VT-29, NO. 3, AUGUST 1980

110 TABLE I
VALUE OF A
100
I lc(MHz)

h, (m) 1 150 900 450

~ 1 1500

124.5 117.0 105.5

30 I 132.0

1
5 0 1 2 2 .151 4 .100 3 . 0 i 129.5

70 i 101.0 112.0 ' 120.5 I 127.0

100 98.5 110.0 ~ 118.0 125.0

150 1 0 8 . 0 96.5 123.0 116.5

200 94.5 , 106.0 114.5 121 .o

TABLE I1
VALUE O F B
20,
1: 20 fc ( M H ~

10
30 1 35.0 35.0 ~ 15.7 1 35.7

0 50 1
34.1 33.4 , 33.8 ~ 34.1

-
32.5 ~ 32.2 ~ 33.4
-10 I
31.3 , 32.5 32.2

+Log.
Scale PLinear
Scale 3150
1.1 30.4 1 30.4 I 30.9
Distance (km) 200 29.9 29.4 2 29 9. 9. 9
Fig. 1. Basic median field strength curve in the 900-MHz band.

C.Empirical Formula for Propagation Loss two regulations: 1) at each frequency f, (MHz), A decreases
two by two against logarithmically increasing hb (m), and 2)
As astandardformula,thepropagation lossinan urban
when f,becomes n times as large for fixed hb, A increases in
area over quasi-smooth terrain is introduced by using the basic
proportion to log n. Considering these points, A can be shown
median field strength curves. By theexaminationofthese
as in Fig. 2. From this figure, A can be presented by
curves, forexamplefrom Fig. 1, thecharacteristic is found
wherein the field strength E (dB pV/M) can be prescribed as a
function of distance R(km) as A = a - 13.82 loglo h , - a(h,)
a = 69.55 + 26.16 loglo fc.
E (dBpV/m) = 7 + P log10 R

where 7 and P are constantsdeterminedby hb (m) and f,
(MHz). Therefore, the standard of propagationloss can also be
prescribed by substituting (5) into (4),
L, (dB) A + B log10 R
Table I1 alsoshows two regulations: 1) B is almostinde-
pendent off,, and 2) decreases constantly against logarithmi-
cally increasing h b . B can also be shown as in Fig. 3. Connect-
ing the mean value at each h b , it becomes an almost straight
line, as shown in the figure.When this line is represented by

A = 178 - 10 log1 0 (A2/4n)- 7 + a(h,)

B=--p (8)
the maximum fluctuation width is about *OS, and it becomes
the linear approximation error about B. Substituting (9) and
where a(h,) is the correction factor for the vehicular station (10) into (6), the standardformulaforpropagation loss is
antenna height h , (m). In the basic curves, h, is 1.5 m, and obtained by
correction curves for the other heightsare provided. Therefore,
it is convenient to take a = 0 dB for h , = 1.5 m and to intro-
duce the correction equation for the other heights.
1 ) Introduction of the Empirical Formula: Using (5) and
(6), A is given by the value of the field strength E (dB pV/m) at
R = 1 (km), and B is determinedbytheslope of the field where
strength curve. Tables I and I1 show values for A and B taken
from the basic median field strength curves. Table I contains f,: 150-1500 MHz,
HATA: PROPAGATION LOSS IN LAND MOBILE RADIO 319

Base Statlon elfectlve antenna helght hb im)

Fig. 2. Introduction of factor A .

36

35

34

31

30

29
50 1c 30 20 70 100 200

Base statlon effective antenna height hh ( m )

Fig. 3. Introduction of factor B .

hb : 30-200 m, translatedinto linearscale,it can beexpectedthat these

R : 1-20 km,
and a@,) is the correction factor for h,, and a = 0 dB for
h , = 1.5 m.
2) Determination of Correction Factor a(h,): In the pre-
diction method, correciton curves for h , are given by Fig. 4.
Namely, the correction is presented as relative height gain to
a standard Of hWI = in an urbanarea Over quasi-smoothtionthat
terrain.
1 ) Correction factors in a medium-small city: In the cor-
rectioncurvesforamedium-smallcity, if the horizontal axis is
curves will be shown by straight lines.
From this viewpoint correctioncurves arerewritten as shown
bytheplottedpoints in Fig. 5 . Since the empirical formula
should be as simple and accurate as possible for usability, the
approximate lines in this figureare used.
As the propagation loss L , of (1 1) has taken h, = 1.5 m
into standard, the correction factor a(h,) satisfies the condi-
= 0 dB for h , = 1.5 m, Ifit is assumed thatthecor-
rection curves which satisfy this condition can be presented by
a , .s = tuc) 11, - q ( f c ) , (1 2 )
320 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. VT-29, NO. 3, AUGUST 1980

20
2000'
Urban area 1- b
700 5
15 400'
4b
200 .3

-!j 9 -
10
100'
-3
C
100 ' ,x -"
J 5
a 200
'ti

fe 5
400
:
loo0 '
0

-5
1 2 3 5 7 10
VehicularStation AntennaHeighth (m)

Fig. 4. Prediction curves for vehicular antenna height gain in an urban area.

1500
900

150

c Vehicular
Station Antenna
Height h, (m)

Fig. 5. Correction factors in a medium-small city (1).

the coefficients [ ( f , ) and d f , ) are given asfollowsby using where

Fig. 6 : h,: l-lOm,
f,: 150-1500MHz.
The error to the linear approximation inFig. 5 is in propor-
(13)tion
to the frequency, and is about1 .O dB when f , = 1500
MHz. As the correction curves in Fig. 4 have irregular charac-
Substituting (13) into (12), the correction factor a@,) is ob- teristics in h , = 4-5 m, the approximation error of this part
tained for vehicular antenna heights in a medium-small city: in Fig. 5 becomes larger than the other part. Therefore, it can
be estimated that the maximum error will arise in f c = 1500
-
a@,) = (1.1 loglo f , - 0.7) h , - (1 -56 loglo f, - 0.8) MHz and h , = 4-5 m.
2) Correction factors in a lave city: Thecorrection
(14) curves are given by dashed lines in Fig. 4. These curves can be
HATA: PROPAGATION LOSS IN LAND MOBILE RADIO 321

4.5

4.0

2 .o

Frequency IC(MHz)

Fig. 6. Determination of coefficients Hf,) and ~(f,).

Urban area

s o l i d l i n e s : Eq. ( 1 6 )

200 MHz

IC 400 MHz

1 1.5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0

Vehicular Station Antenna Height h, (m)

Fig. 7. Correction factors in a large city (1).

considered as parabolas. The following equations are approxi- transform (1 5 ) to an equation whichsatisfies the condition that
mate expressions of these curves: a = 0 dB for h, = 1.5 m, then the correction factor a(h,) for
vehicular antenna heights becomes
~ 3 =’ 8.29 * (loglo 1.54 A,)’ - 3.69 (dB),
a(h,) = 8.29 (loglo 1.54 h,)’ - 1.10 (dB), .
f,< 200 MHz

f,2 400 MHz. (1 6)

Although the curves for f,= 200 MHz and 100 MHz are pre-
sented by one equation in (16), the error of this expression is As shown in Fig. 8, values given by (16) and values given by
only about 0.5 dB, as shown in Fig. 7. It is also necessary to Fig. 4 agree well in f,2 400 MHz. Their maximum difference
 322 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. VT-29, NO. 3, AUGUST 1980

plots : Fig. 5
f 5 2 0 0 MHz

fc? 400 MHz

,
t
I 1.5 2 3 4
~

5 6 7 8 9 1 0
V e h i c u l a r S t a t i o n A n t e n n a H e l g h t h m (m)

Fig. 8. Correction factors in a large city (2).

220 220

210 210
f = 900 XIHz
200 200

190 190

180 --% 180

- 170 170

160 4 160
a 150 150
L?
1
? 140 i 143

l o o ~
i
d

130 $ 130
m
a.
& 120 = 120
m
110 110
s 0

1 00

90 90

80 80 , 8

1 1
io 70 0 ,

60 60 I
1 2 3 5 7 10 20 30 40 50 1 2 3 5 207 10 30 40 50

Distance R (krn) Distance R (km)

Fig. 9. Propagation loss in an urban area (1). Fig. 10. Propagation loss in an urban area (2).

occurs in f, < 200 MHz and h , 2 5 m, and is about 1 dB. formula and the dashedlines are the values given by the predic-
Therefore, (16) is used as the correction factor a(h,) for ve- tion curves. Fig. 9 shows that the error at both ends of the fre-
hicularantennaheightsina large city, where the building quency range is very small, and the maximum error, which oc-
height average is more than 15 m. curs in the middle frequency range, is only about 1 dB. Further-
more, it shows that the error is independent of the distance
111. ESTIMATION OF THEAPPROXIMATION ERR-OR (1-20 km) and is constant for each frequency. This is the rea-
In this section we investigate how accurately the empirical son that only term A in (7) depends on frequency. Therefore,
formulasexpresstheprediction curves. Figs. 9 and 10 show the error in Fig. 9 mainly indicates the approximation error in
the propagation loss in an urban area with parameters f, and (19) which gives termA. Fig. 10 shows that the error fluctuates
h b , respectively.The solidlinesare the values given bythe about h b , and its maximumvalue is about 1 dB. Thisis due to the
HATA: PROPAGATION LOSS INLANDMOBILERADIO 323

1500

' 900
--
u
450 5
i:
L

150

V e h i c u l a r S t a t i o n A n t e n n a H e i g h t h rn (m)

Fig. 11. Correction factors in a medium-small city (2).

linear approximation in Fig. 3. From Fig. 10, it can besaid that

(lo), which gives term B , is a fairly accurate equation. Fig. 1 1 -
shows the correction factor a(h,) for vehicularheights in a -3
z
medium-smallcity.The solidlines are values calculated by L
d a s h e d line :
using (14)andtheplottedpointsarethecorrection values 2
i report Okurnurals
given by Fig. 4. As mentioned in Section 11-C, the linear <

approximation error is porportional to the frequency and the ; 10

s o l i d line : Eq. (18)

antenna height. The maximum error arises in f, = 1500 MHz 2

1.
and h , = 4-5 m, and its value is about 1.5 dB. Below f, = 4
0
900 MHz, the error is only 0.5 dB (except when h , = 4-5 L

c
0
m), or 1 dB (in h , = 4-5 m). Consideringequation simpli- i

U
city, therefore, it can be said that (14) is a simple and well- i

approximated equation. The correction factor a(h,) in a large 0

6 5
city is mentioned in the previous section.When using (16), there is 0
Fi
little error in f, 2 400 MHz, and the maximum error is about "
1 dB in f, < 200 MHz and h , 2 5 m . In practice, there are
few cases in whch the vehicular antenna height is above 5 m.
Therefore, it can be considered that (16) is very practicable.
0
100 200 300 500
700 1000 2000
IV. CORRECTIONS FOR SUBURBAN AND OPEN AREAS
F r e q u e n c r f c (MHz)
According t o Okumura's prediction method, the suburban Fig. 12. Correctionfactorforsuburban area.
correction factor K r (dB), which is the difference between the
median field strength in the urban area and that in the subur-
culated by
ban area,is given by thedashed line in Fig. 12. In this figure the
solid line is the approximated curve given by

On the other hand, the open area correction factorQ, (dB)

Kr (dB) = 2 {log,o (fc128)12 + (17)
5.4, is given by the dashed line in Fig. 13. In this figure the solid
f, : MHz. line is the approximated curve given by

Qr (dB) = 4.78 (loglo f,)* - 18.33 loglo f, + 40.94,

As Fig. 12 shows that (17) gives a good approximated value,
thepropagation loss insuburban area L,, (dB) will be cal- f,: MHz. (19)
3 24 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, VOL. VT-29, NO. 3, AUGUST 1980

Frequency IC ( M H ~ )
Fig. 13. Correction factor for open area.

TABLE 111
EXPERIMENTAL FORMULA FOR PROPAGATION LOSS

Urban L p = 69.55 + 26.16 ' log fc - 13.82 , log hb - a ( h m ) *

Area
+ ( 4 4 . 9 - 6 . 5 5 . log hbj . log R (dB)
-- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
c o r r e c t i o n factor for v e h l c u l a r station a n t e n n ah e i g h t

medium-small city

a (h,) = (1.1 . log fc - 0 . 7 ) , hm - ( 1 . 5 6 log IC - 0.8)

l a r g e city

a ih,) = 8.29 ' (log 1o 1 . 5 4h m j 2 - 1 .1 MHz

; fc ~ 2 0 0

= 3.2 . (log 11.75hm)' - 4.97 ; rcz 400 M H ~

Suburban
L = {Urban
~p area) -2 {loglo ( r c / 2 8 ) } - 5.4 (dB)
Area

x here

fc : frequency (MHz) ---------- 150 -1 500 (MHz)

hb : base stallon e f f e c t w e
-_-_-_30-200 (m)
antenna helght (mj

Fig. 13 .shows that (19) gives a good approximated value, and taken down to one decimal place, the error becomes very large.
therefore, the propagation loss in open area L,, (dB) will be Therefore, coefficients are futed down to two decimal places.
calculated by
V. SUMMARY
-
L p o (dB) = L p {eq (1 1)) Qr. (20) In order to put Okumura's prediction methods to computa-
In (17) and (19), if the coefficients are taken down to three tional use in system planning, prediction curves are formular-
places of decimals, the error becomes slightly smaller, but the izedas propagation loss.Theseresultsarearranged in Table
equationbecomesmorecomplicated.If the coefficientsare 111. Since the propagation loss can be treated as a formula, it
U T A : PROPAGATION LOSS IN LAND MOBILE RADIO 325

becomes possible to put the formula into various calculations propagation at 800 MHz in the Philadelphia area,’’ I€E€ Tram. Veh.
about system planning. However,since the formula can only be [6] TA.e P.
c h l . , vol. VT-21, May 1972.
Barsis. “Determination of service area for VHF/UHF land mobile
applied in restrictedranges,it is necessary to takenotice of and broadcast operations over irregular tenain,” I€&€ Trans.Veh.
its applicable ranges and units. Technol.. vol. VT-22. May 1973.
[7] J . Durkin, “Computer pndiction of service area for VHF and UHF land
mobile radio services,” I&€& Trans. Veh. Technol., vol. VT-26, Nov.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 1977.
[8] G. D. Ott, “Vehicle location in cellular mobileradio systems,’’ IE€E
Theauthorthanks Mr. K. Izumi and K. Hirade,Mobile Tram. Veh.Technol., vol. VT-26, Feb. 1977.
Communication
Equipment
Section,
Yokosuka Electrical [9] K. Allsebrook and J. D. Parsons, “Mobile radio propagation in British
Communication Laboratories, for their useful suggestions. cities at frequencies in the VHF and UHF bands,” I€&€ Trans. Veh.
Technol., vol. VT-26, Nov. 1977.
[IO] W. C. Jakes,Jr.. Microwave Mobile Communications. New Yo&:
REFERENCES Wiley, 1974.
[ I I] F. Ikegami, “Mobile radio communication in Japan,” /E&€ Trans.
Y. Okumura et ai., “Field strength and i t s variability in UHF and VHF C ~ m m ~ rVOI.
. . COM-20, 1972.
land-mobile radio service,” Rev. Elec. Commun. Lab.. vol. 16, 1968. [ 121 N. Yoshikawa and T. Nomura, “On thedesign of a smallzoneland
CCIR, Recommendation 370-1, 11, Oslo, 1 9 6 6 : Report 565, Geneva, mobile radio system in UHF band,’’ /€E€ Trans.Veh.Technol.,
1974. VT-25, Aug. 1976.
W.R. Young, Jr., “Comparison of mobile radio transmission at 150,
450, 900 and 3700 MHz,” Bell Syst. Tech. J . , vol. 3 I , Nov. 1952.
A. P. Barsis. “Radio wavepropagation over irregular tenain in the
769200 MHz frequency range,” I&&€ Trans.Veh.Technol.. vol.
VT-20, Aug. 1971. Masaharu Hsta (“80) for a biography and photograph see page 252 of the
D. M. BlackandD. 0. Reudink, “Some characteristics of radio May 1980 issue of this TRANSACTIONS.