5G-RANGE Project Field Trial
Alexandre Ferreira, Luciano Mendes,
Wheberth Dias, Tiago Marins, Danilo Gaspar
Centro de Referência em Radiocomunicações (CRR)
Instituto Nacional de Telecomunicações - Inatel
Santa Rita do Sapucaı́, MG, Brazil
Abstract—Providing broadband Internet access in remote
areas have been a challenge to any terrestrial wireless network.
The high cost of spectrum license and the limited coverage
of current technologies have imposed a prohibitive operational
cost for remote areas wireless networks. 5G-RANGE project
proposes an innovative physical layer (PHY) and medium access
control layer (MAC) layers to opportunistically exploit TV white
spaces (TVWS) while providing high throughput in a large
coverage area. This paper presents the first field test results
based on this new technology. The field trial was performed with
the 5G-RANGE project transceiver, implemented for real-time
operation over a software-defined radio (SDR) platform. The 2x2
multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) Generalized Frequency
Division Multiplexing (GFDM) system operates in 700 MHz
using two adjacent Ultra High Frequency (UHF) TV channels.
The landscape in the region of the field trial is predominantly
composed of hills. The main goal of the field test was to determine
the throughput and coverage that the 5G-RANGE transceiver can
achieve under real conditions. The results show that a high data
rate can be achieved with low bit error rate (BER) at distances
up to 50 km distant from the base station (BS).
Keywords—5G, 5G-RANGE, remote areas, coverage, field trial
I. I NTRODUCTION
The advent of the Fifth Generation of Mobile Networks
(5G) is creating a big expectation in the enhancements of
mobile services regarding higher throughput, low latency,
ultra-high reliability, and higher connectivity density. These
enhancements will provide conditions for different 5G use
cases such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-
reliable low latency communications (URLLC), and massive
machine type communication (mMTC) for Internet of Things
(IoT) devices [1]. Although the foreseen 5G scenarios cover a
multitude of new applications, there is one important use case
that is not being widely discussed that is the Internet access in
rural and remote areas. Up to now, all wireless technologies
have failed to provide reliable and feasible Internet services in
remote areas due to high operational cost and limited coverage.
The 5G-RANGE project main goal is to provide a cost-
effective infrastructure solution for broadband Internet access
in remote and low populated areas. The target throughput
proposed for such application is 100 Mbps at 50 km from
the BS. This solution will enable broadband Internet access to
Manuscript received February 08, 2019.
A. Ferreira, L. Mendes, W. Dias, T. Marins and D. Gaspar e-mail:
{alexandrecf, luciano, tiagomarins and danilo-gaspar}@inatel.br
A.Matos, C.Silva and B.Sokal e-mail:{alexandrematos, cfms,
brunosokal}@gtel.ufc.br
This study was financed in part by CNPq Brazil and by the 5G-RANGE
project (RNP and EC).
978-1-7281-0546-8/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE
Authorized licensed use limited to: Instituto Nacional De Telecomunicações (INATEL). Downloaded on August 09,2022 at 17:43:54 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Alexandre Matos, Carlos Silva, Bruno Sokal
Grupo de Pesquisa em Telecomunicações sem Fio (GTEL)
Universidade Federal do Ceará - UFC
Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
a higher number of subscribers in rural and remote areas, and
it will allow new digital services, such as smart farms, to be
deployed.
5G-RANGE project is developing a proof-of-concept (PoC)
testbed composed by a BS and user equipments (UEs). This
testbed will show that most technologies proposed for 5G can
be tailored for remote area applications. As an intermediate
stage for the PoC, a field trial was designed to investigate
the performance of the transceiver for remote areas over the
target distance of 50 km. The transceiver was implemented
to operate in real-time based on the National Instruments
universal software radio peripheral (USRP) platform. Although
the 5G-RANGE project considers a bandwidth of up 100 MHz
[2], the performance tests were conducted using 12 MHz,
which consists of two UHF TV channels in Brazil, in the 700
MHz band. Therefore, the main goal of this paper is to present
the results of the field test performed with the 5G-RANGE
transceiver, while comparing the channel model presented in
[3] with the field measurements.
The remaining of this paper is organized as follow: Section
II brings the channel model for remote areas proposed by the
5G-RANGE project. Section III describes the field test cam-
paign, while Section IV shows the measured results. Finally,
Section V brings the conclusions of the paper.
II. T HE 5G-RANGE C HANNEL M ODEL
The channel model adopted in 5G-RANGE project was
based on the measurement campaign [4] performed by Erics-
son and Telstra in four different remote rural areas considering
distances from 1 to 200 km and system frequency of 850 MHz.
From the measured data, restricted to the distance range of 5G-
RANGE project, it was possible to obtain a simple path loss
model, given by
PL(d, fc ) = FSPL(d, fc ) + K, (1)
where
FSPL(d, fc ) = 20 log10 (d) + 20 log10 (fc ) + 32.45, (2)
is the free space path loss (FSPL) in dB, fc is the system
frequency in MHz, d is the distance in km and K is the
offset, which was determined to provide the best fit between
the proposed model in (1) and the measured data available
from [4]. The proposed path loss model and the measured
data from [4] are depicted in Fig. 1. To determine the value to
the offset K the unconstrained minimum mean squared error
(MMSE) was used as follows
( I )
1X
min e(di )2 , (3)
K I i=1
490
 where e(di ) = PL(di , fc ) − y(di ), ∀i ∈ {1, . . . , I}, is the error
between the proposed path loss PL(di , fc ) and the measured
path loss y(di ), which is an average of thousands of samples,
and I = 191 is the total number of averaged path loss samples
in Fig. 1. The optimization problem in (3) is easily solved by
differentiating it with respect to K and set to zero yielding the
optimal solution, i.e.,
I
1X
K= (y(di ) − FSPL(di , fc )) = 29.38 dB.
I i=1
which shows a large additional loss in the FSPL. This loss is
a contribution from surrounding mountains in the propagation
path that add different effects in the transmitted signal, such
as diffraction, reflections and scattering. After the offset K
is determined, the shadowing fading samples SF(di ), ∀i ∈
{1, . . . , I}, are obtained by subtracting the proposed path loss
model in (1) from the measured in Fig. 1 as follows
SF(di ) = y(di ) − FSPL(di , fc ).
Fig. 2 depicts the theoretical and empirical probability density
function (PDF) of the estimated shadow fading (SF) after
removing the SF samples which are not statistically relevant
(outliers) to the model [3, cf. Section 2.1]. As it can be
observed from Fig. 2, there is a good agreement between the
PDF of a Normal distributed random variable with µSF = 0
dB and σSF = 4.47 dB, and the empirical PDF obtained from
(5).
Fig. 1. Measured data in 850 MHz for four scenarios in [4] and proposed
path loss model.
In this context, the large scale fading, i.e., path loss and
shadow fading to the proposed channel model are summarized
as
PL(d, fc ) = 20 log10 (d) + 20 log10 (fc ) + 61.83,
SF ∼ N (0, 4.472 ),
respectively. A detailed characterization for both large and
small scale fading of the proposed channel model of the 5G-
RANGE project can be found in [3, cf. Section 2.1].
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(4)
Fig. 2. Estimated and theoretical PDF to the SF obtained from the measured
data in Fig. 1.
(5)
III. T HE F IELD T RIAL C AMPAIGN
The 5G-RANGE transceiver field-test was performed in
the vicinities of Santa Rita do Sapucai, a town located in the
Southeast region of Brazil. This location is characterized by
hills and valleys, with elevation varying from 800 m up to
1900 m [5]. The following subsections describe the filed test
in details.
A. Field trial environment
The field trial was performed assuming the remote area
broadband Internet access scenario defined by the 5G-RANGE
project [2], where the 5G-RANGE general case propagation
scenario [3] occurs between the BS and the UE. For this
scenario, no mobility is expected, and a target peak data rate
of 100 Mbps at the cell edge is required. The BS was placed
at the top of a hill with an elevation of 1392 m above the sea
level, improving the coverage in the field-test location. The
BS antennas were installed in a 12 m high tower. The UE
was installed in a car with external antennas, which has been
positioned at different distances from the BS, ranging from
10 km up to 50.6 km. Different propagation conditions were
observed for each UE position. The UE antennas height varied
according to its position. Fig. 3 shows the landscape profile of
each UE location, obtained with the RF propagation simulation
software Radio Mobile [6].
B. System Parameters
The 5G-RANGE project proposes the use of TVWS spec-
trum as a way to reduce the costs associated with spectrum
usage licenses and, in this way, lower the operations costs of
the network. A cognitive engine will verify the vacant UHF
channels and dynamically allocate the spectrum according with
the users demands and resources availability.
(6) In order to achieve these objectives, the 5G-RANGE
(7) transceiver employs an innovative waveform named GFDM
[7]. This waveform improves the spectrum efficiency of the
cyclic prefix (CP) and reduces the out-of-band (OOB) emis-
sions compared with Orthogonal Frequency Division Mul-
tiplexing (OFDM). These features allows the 5G-RANGE
491
 and its conections with the IDU. The BS uses two Yagi

ANT1
TX1 PA 100 W
NI USRP Coupler
Gain 57 dB
2954R TX2
Duplexer
Sample
PCIe LNA

Ethernet NI PXIe
1071 Sample

PA 100 W ANT2
PCIe Coupler
Gain 57 dB
RX1 Duplexer
USRP
2954R RX2
LNA

ODU

Fig. 4. Block diagram for the ODU and its connections with the IDU.

antennas with 9 dBi gain. Fig. 5 shows a picture of the tower

where the BS antennas are installed and the hardware used to
implement the ODU and the IDU. The UE was assembled in

Fig. 3. Landscape profile and link information obtained by simulation for

each UE position.

transceiver to operate without RF filters and, while achieving

high data rates in long-distance links [8]. The transceiver also
uses time-reversal space-time coding (TR-STC) [9] to achieve
space-time diversity of order 4. Table I presents all parameters
of the transceiver.
TABLE I. S YSTEM PARAMETERS .
Parameter Value
Tx Power 6.3 W per antenna
Center frequency 734 MHz
Bandwidth 6 MHz and 12 MHz
BS altitude 1392 m (above sea level)
BS antenna height 12 m
BS antenna gain 9 dBi
UE antenna height 1.8 m
UE antenna gain 9 dBi
Waveform GFDM
Modulation 64-QAM and 256-QAM
MIMO Diversity Scheme 2x2 Space-time coding
FEC code Systematic Polar code with SC decoder
Code rates 3/4 and 5/6
Fig. 5. Tower where the BS antennas were installed (a) and BS IDU and
ODU Hardware(b).
C. BS and UE setup
a car, using a similar ODU and IDU described for the BS. The
The 5G-RANGE transceiver was built over the National car was used to allow the measurements in different locations
Instruments platform [10]. Labview Communications was used in a nomadic way. A polarized MIMO antenna with ±45◦ and
to implement the base-band signal processing blocks, integra- 9 dBi was used in the UE side. Fig. 6 shows a picture of the
tion of blocks developed using Very High Speed Integrated UE setup in the field.
Circuits Hardware Description Language (VHDL) and to con-
figure and control the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)
D. Measurements
units.
The power received at the UE side was measured using the
Both the BS and the UE are composed by indoor device
‘‘Channel Power measure” function of the spectrum analyzer
unit (IDU) and outdoor device unit (ODU). The IDU is
model Agilent ESA E4402B. Based on the knowledge of the
responsible for all the baseband processing, configuration and
total transmit power and antennas gain, it was possible to
controls and it is composed by two USRPs model 2954R
estimate the path loss at every position of the UE. Fig. 7 shows
and one Peripheral Component Interconnect eXtensions for
an example of the power measurement.
Instrumentation (PXI) model PXIe-1071 that plays the role
of host. The ODU consists of all RF components, such as For each measurement point, the overall system BER and
power amplifiers, couplers, circulators, duplexers, and low throughput were verified. The throughput was defined by
noise amplifiers. Figure 4 shows a block diagram of the ODU highest data rate possible with the system parameters that

492
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 The configurations in which the BER were lower the the
threshold were considered successful. This strategy was used
in all the test until a maximum bit rate of 57 Mbps was
achieved for a 12 MHz of bandwidth, 256-QAM and a code
rate of 3/4 and a BER lower than 10−6 . This configuration
has spectral efficiency of 4.75 bits/s/Hz and extrapolating this
result for a 24 MHz bandwidth, as proposed for the 5G-
RANGE, a peak bit rate of 114 Mbps would be achievable.
The 24 MHz condition was performed in the laboratory with
success, simulating the appropriated channel conditions, but
could not be performed in the field test because Inatel holds a
license for only two UHF TV channels (12 MHz).

Fig. 6. UE assembled in car for the field test campaign. Measurements of the received power were taken at loca-
tions 10, 20, 30 and 50 km distant from the BS for assessment
of the path loss. Once the number of collected measurements
is not enough for the characterization of a path loss model,
those measurements were used to compare to the prediction
of the 5G-RANGE proposed model. A path loss estimation
from the Radio Mobile software simulator [6] is also added for
comparison. Fig. 8 shows the path loss evaluated at different
UE positions. For the measurement points where the line-

200
FSPL
Proposed model
180 Measurements dez/2018
Measurements nov/2018
Radio Mobile

Fig. 7. Received signal power measured by the spectrum analyzer installed 160
inthe car.
Path loss (dB)

30 C
140
30 B
allowed acceptable BER at the measurement location. In order 20 B
to measure the BER, a sequence known by the UE was 30 A
120 50 B
continuously transmitted by the BS. The UE synchronized the
received sequence with the self-generated reference to evaluate 20 A
the BER. 10 A
100

IV. M EASUREMENTS R ESULTS 80

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
The main goal of the the field test reported by this paper Distance (km)
is to verify the feasibility of the 5G-RANGE key performance
indicator (KPI) of 100 Mbps at the cell edge, 50 km away Fig. 8. Field trial measurements compared with the proposed model for
5G-RANGE channels.
from the BS. The data rate achieved by the transceiver at 50.6
km is shown in Table II.
of-sight was not obstructed by obstacles, the measurements
TABLE II. 5G-RANGE TRANSCEIVER CONFIGURATIONS AND fits better the FSPL model. Although, for the locations where
ACHIEVED DATARATE AT 50 KM . obstacles were in the line-of-sight, the measured values lies
BW Code Bit Rate BER SNR closer to the proposed path loss model. Table III shows the
Modulation
(MHz) rate (Mbps) < 10−6 (dB) prediction for the path loss using the 5G-RANGE model,
6 64-QAM 3/4 22 yes 28.51 the FSPL model, the Radio Mobile software and the actual
6 64-QAM 5/6 24 yes 29.98
6 256-QAM 5/6 32 yes 26.31 measurement, for each valid point of measurement on the trial.
6 256-QAM 3/4 29 yes 29.18 This Table shows also the average and root mean square error
12 64-QAM 5/6 48 yes 29.35 (RMS) prediction error for each prediction method used. The
12 256-QAM 5/6 64 no 29.15
12 256-QAM 3/4 57 yes 27.33 points at 40 km away from the BS were not included in this
analysis because the received power was below the spectrum
analyzer noise floor.
The test started with a 6 MHz bandwidth, 64-QAM mod- The average error was calculated as
ulation and a code rate of 3/4. The adopted procedure was to
increase the code rate and the modulation order, and, hence, I
the data rate, until the BER become higher than 10−6 . The 1X
µe = (pi − mi ), (8)
same transmit power was for both 6 and 12 MHz. I i=1

493
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 TABLE III. P REDICTIONS AND MEASUREMENTS OF THE PATH LOSS
OBTAINED WITH DIFFERENT METHODS . S EVERAL MEASUREMENTS WERE
V. C ONCLUSIONS
PERFORMED AT A SPECIFIC DISTANCE FROM THE BS.
This paper reports the result obtained in a field trial
Distance Radio Model FSPL Measured campaign performed in the scope of the 5G-RANGE project.
(km) Mobile (dB) (dB) (dB) path loss (dB)
109.0
This task is an intermediary step for the PoC and had, as
10 119.4 139.1 109.8 its primary goal, to verify the performance of the transceiver
109.1
116.3 implementation under real conditions, and also, its ability
118.2
20 122.5 145.2 115.8
136.2 to achieve the 5G-RANGE target KPI of 100 Mbps at 50
135.3 km from the BS. Due to spectrum license restrictions at the
141.8 date of field test trials was not possible to use the 24 MHz
144.2
135.6 bandwidth required for the 100 Mbps goal. However, the field
30 157.1 148.7 119.3
135.2 tests performed with a bandwidth (BW) of 12 MHz achieving
124.0 57 Mbps is an indication that 114 Mbps would be achieved
123.9
128.9 doubling the bandwidth.
50 137.1 153.2 123.7
123.9
129.7 The path loss measurements collected during the field trial
128.7 were compared to the model proposed in the 5G-RANGE
127.4
130.8
project. Due to the limitations of the available data, the
128.1 proposed path loss model does not differentiate between LOS
130.4 and NLOS conditions. Since the field trial was performed
132.9
127.9 under LOS conditions, the proposed model presented a larger
129.8 prediction error than the FSPL model. However, due to the
50.6 137.1 153.3 123.8 129.4 small number of measurements obtained from the field trial,
132.9
131.6 such measurements have low statistical relevance to provide
132.8 an accurate evaluation of the proposed model.
132.7
128.8 As future work, a new field trial with 24 MHz aiming
128.0
130.7 the 100 Mbps target bit rate will be performed. In parallel
131.4 to that, more path loss measurements should be collected to
128.2 allow a better statistic assessment of the 5G-RANGE path loss
Average Error 8.2 21.7 -7.7 -
RMS Error 9.4 22.6 10.0 -
prediction model, and possibly a refinement of the model.

where I is total number of path loss samples, pi and mi are
the prediction and measurement for the i-th sample. This value
represents how distant the predictions made by the model are
distant from the measurements in average. A negative value
implies that, in average, the attenuation predicted by the model
is smaller than the actual value.
The RMS error is calculated as
v [5] Topografic-map. (2019) Topografic maps. [Online]. Available: http:
u I
u1 X
ρe = t (pi − mi )2 .
I i=1
This value is an indicative of the total prediction error.
The Radio Mobile software prediction presents the smaller
average and RMS error among the models, which is ex-
pected, since the software uses topographical data to predict
the attenuation, accounting for obstructions and diffraction
caused by the terrain in every specific situation. The actual
path loss measurements lies between the FSPL and the 5G-
RANGE model predictions. This suggests that the specific
propagation environment where the measurements were taken
is more favorable, regarding line-of-sight obstruction, than the
environment were the measurements used to fit the model were
taken. In addition to that, the number of measurements in this
campaign is small to produce significant statistics and limited
to one type of terrain.
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