BUILDING PENETRATION LOSS

AT 900 MHz

J . M. Durante MotorolaInc. Schaumburg, I l l . 60172 ABSTRACT

B u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n l o s s wasmeasured a t 937 M H z inanurbanenvironmentusing a new methodwhichunl i k ep r e v i o u sm e t h o d st a k e si n t oa c c o u n t many of t h e v a r i a b l e sp r e s e n ti na na c t u a lp o r t a b l er a d i os y s t e m . A 900 MHz p o r t a b l e t r a n s c e i v e r was u s e d t o t r a n s m i t a s i g n a l t o a c a l i b r a t e dr e c e i v e rc o n n e c t e dt o a 8.5 dB g a i nb a s es t a t i o na n t e n n a .M e a s u r e m e n t sw e r e made i nb u i l d i n g so ft h ec l a s s 1 t y p e( g r e a t e rt h a n 100' x 100' o rh i g h e rt h a n 4 f l o o r s ) . The b u i l d i n g sv a r i e d i na g ef r o m 1 t o 5 0y e a r s . A comparison was made b e t w e e ns i g n a ls t r e n g t h s a t t h e same h e i g h t i n s i d e a n d well as c o m p a r i n go u t s i d e outsidethebuilding,as street l e v e l s i g n a l s w i t h s i g n a l s i n t h e b u i l d i n g at d i f f e r e n tf l o o rl e v e l s .C o n c l u s i o n s are drawn a st o t h e e f f e c t s o f h e i g h ta b o v es t r e e t l e v e l , t y p eo f b u i l d i n gc o n s t r u c t i o n ,a n do u t s i d ee n v i r o n m e n tw i t h r e s p e c tt ot h eb a s es t a t i o n ,o nb u i l d i n gp e n e t r a t i o n loss. o p e r a t o r ,t oo t h e rp e o p l e ,a n d to o t h e r o b j e c t s repr e s e n t e d a r e a l i s t i cs i t u a t i o n . The p r i n c i p l e of r e c i p r o c i t y a l l o w s us t o d e t e r m i n e r e c e i v i n g l e v e l s a t t h e same l o c a t i o n .B e c a u s et h eo p e r a t o r i s only burdened by a p o r t a b l e r a d i o , h e may c o v e r many d i f f e r e n t l o c a t i o n s w i t h nochange i n t h e a c c u r a c y of h i s measunnents. A q u i c kr a d i os u r v e yc a nb e made u s i n g t h i s t e c h n i q u e o r more d e t a i l e d a n d p r e c i s e m e a s u r e ments. Measurementswere made i n l o w e r M a n h a t t a n , Schaumburg, l i l i n o i s a n dt h en e a rn o r t hs i d e of Chicago. The samples of data a t e a c hl o c a t i o nw e r e small b e c a u s et h ep u r p o s eo ft h e t e s t was t h a t o f a s u r v e y o f t h ea r e a .T h i sd a t as h o u l db ec o n s i d e r e d as s u g g e s t i v eo ft r e n d st h a ta r ep r e s e n t a t 937 MHz r a t h e r t h a n as p r e c i s e l y e s t a b l i s h i n g a number f o r t h e mean b u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n l o s s .

1 . 2 Background:
B u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n l o s s was measured a t 35and 150 MHz by L . P . R i c ei n1 9 5 8 . l The b u i l d i n g l o s s e s were f o u n d t o f o l l o w a l o g - n o r m a l d i s t r i b u t i o n a t 35 MHz. The o v e r a l la v e r a g eb u i l d i n g l o s s was f o u n dt o b e 24 dB, u = 14 dB and a t 150 M H z a b o u t 22 dB, d = 1 2 dB. I t was a l s oo b s e r v e dt h a tv a r i a t i o n sa sg r e a t as 20 dB were e n c o u n t e r e d b e t w e e n l o c a t i o n s a few f e e t a p a r t ,a n dt h a tt h e maximum l o s s e s o c c u r r e d a t t h e f i r s tf l o o r( e x c l u d i n gb a s e m e n t s ) . Tests on p a g e r rec e i v e r s h a v e shown t h a t t h e t y p e o f c l o t h i n g w o r n b y t h eu s e r ,l o c a t i o no ft h eu n i to nt h eu s e r ,a n du s e r r o t a t i o nw i t hr e s p e c tt ot h es i g n a ls o u r c e ,p r o d u c e d v a r i a t i o n s on t h eo r d e ro f 2 1 0 dR.2 I t was a l s o obs e r v e dt h a tc o n n e c t i n g wires t o a p o r t a b l e u n i t i n o r d e rt om e a s u r es e n s i t i v i t yp r o d u c e dv a r i a t i o n si n r e s u l t s whichwerefound tobeduetothe wires a c t i n g a sp a r to ft h ea n t e n n a .A c c o u s t i cc o u p l i n g was used t e s t s c o n d u c t e df o rt h e t os o l v et h i sp r o b l e m .R e c e n t F.C.C. i n Washington D.C. ( F i g u r e 1) by Neal Shepherd show g r e a t e r a v e r a g e a t t e n u a t i o n o n t h e f i r s t f l o o r Of b u i l d i n g sa t1 5 0 MHz (30 dB, 0 = 8 dB) than900 MHz (25 dB, 0 = 8 dB).3 The150 M H z r e s u l t s d i f f e r by 8 dB f r o m ' t h o s e obtained by R i c e .F i g u r e 1 a l s o shows theadvantagesafheightgaintobe near l i n e a r b e t w e e n t h es e c o n da n de i g h t hf l o o r so fb u i l d i n g s .R i c e ' sd a t a i n d i c a t e s similar r e s u l t s . S t a n d a r db a t t e r y - p o w e r e d ,c r y s t a l - c o n t r o l l e d rec e i v e r s were u s e d t o m e a s u r e s i g n a l s t r e n g t h i n t h e R i c et e s t s .B o t hN e a lS h e p h e r da n dJ o s h u aS h e f e r( a t 450 M H z and900 MHz) used a t e s t c a r t moved a t a cons t a n ts p e e d ,a n d a c o m p u t e rt oa n a l y z et h ed a t a . 4 It was hoped by a d o p t i n g a d i f f e r e n t a p p r o a c h , we would ease t h ep r o b l e m s of g a i n i n g a c c e s s t o many d i f f e r e n t b u i l d i n g sa n da tt h e same time p r o v i d e t h e t e s t e r w i t h a methodofmeasurement t h a t more c l o s e l y r e s e m b l e d t h e t y p eo fs y s t e mt h a t was b e i n g e v a l u a t e d .

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Scope of Study:

B u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n loss i s a f a c t o r w h i c h m u s t b ec o n s i d e r e di ne v a l u a t i n gt h er e q u i r e m e n t sf o r personal portable radio systems. These systems may c o n s i s to fr e c e i v e r su s e di n a p a g i n gs y s t e m ,t r a n s c e i v e r s t h a t are p a r t o f a two-way r e p e a t e r s y s t e m , o r a f u l ld u p l e xp o r t a b l er a d i ot e l e p h o n es y s t e m . Each system has unique requirements. It i s a p p a r e n t t h a tt h et r e n di nt h el a n dm o b i l es e r v i c e i s towards t h eu s eo fm o r eo ft h e s et y p e so fs y s t e m s .B e c a u s e t h e 900 M H z b a n dc o u l dp r o v i d et h en e c e s s a r yf r e q u e n c i e sf o rf u t u r es y s t e m s i t becomesveryimportant t h a t we u n d e r s t a n d how b u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n loss a t 900 MHz c o m p a r e sw i t hp r o p a g a t i o n a t t h e Sower bands. B u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n loss c a n b e e v a l u a t e d i n terms of t h e mean s i g n a l l o s s , t h e v a r i a t i o n s a b o u t t h i s mean v a l u e ,a n da n o m a l i e st h a tm i g h te x i s t . I t is a f f e c t e d by t h e f r e q u e n c y u s e d , t h e t y p e o f b u i l d i n g c o n s t r u c t i o n ,t h eo u t s i d ee n v i r o n m e n tw i t hr e s p e c tt o meast h e b a s e s t a t i o n and t h e h e i g h t o f t h e l o c a t i o n u r e d ,w i t hr e s p e c tt ot h es i g n a ls o u r c e . T h i sp a p e rc o n c e r n si t s e l fw i t h a t e c h n i q u eu s e d toevaluatebuildingpenetration loss a t 937 MI2 i n a n urban environment. The technique takes into account many of t h e v a r i a b l e s p r e s e n t i n a n a c t u a l p o r t a b l e r a d i os y s t e m . A 937 MHz p o r t a b l et r a n s c e i v e r was used t o t r a n s m i t a s i g n a l t o a c a l i b r a t e d r e c e i v e r conn e c t e d to a n8 . 5 dB g a i nb a s e - s t a t i o na n t e n n a .T h i s approachallowedthetransmittertobein a normal environment. The p r o x i m i t yo ft h ea n t e n n at ot h e

CONFERENCE PAPER 73mog17-m-B-b A p a p erre v i e w e b dt yh e 1973 VTG ConferenceReviewConunittee on S e s s i o n on P r o p a g a t i o n f o r p r e s e n t a t i o n z t the Conference. Manuscript subm i t t e dO c t g b e r 1 0 , 1973; Made a v a i l a b l e f o r p r i n t i n g October23, 1973. P r i c e : Members $1.35 A t Meeting $1.00 Won-Members $1.80 C o p y r i g h t @ 1 9 7 3 by The I n s t i t u t e of E l e c t r i c a l a n d ElectronicEngineers,Inc., 345 E a s t 4 7 t h S t r e e t , New Ysrk, N . Y., 10017.

OBSERVATIONS

2 . 1 Test I n f o r m a t i o n :
Measurements were made by t r a n s m i t t i n g f r o m a 900 M H z portabletransceiverwithapproximately 500 mw of o u t p u tp o w e r .I nf a c t ,t h et r a n s c e i v e r was u s e dt o c o m m u n i c a t ew i t ht h eb a s es t a t i o n ,p r o v i d i n gt h e controlpointwithinformation on t h e l o c a t i o n of the p o r t a b l e ,t h ee n v i r o n m e n t ,e t c . ,w h i l et h ec o n t r o l

pointoperatorinformedtheportablestationoperator i f r e p e a t s were n e c e s s a r y .S t e p s were t a k e nt oi n s u r e t h a t t h e powerwould n o t v a r y b e t w e e n r e a d i n g s made d u r i n gt h ec o u r s eo ft h ed a y . The p o r t a b l eu s e d a h a l f wave d i p o l e . Although a l l b a s e s t a t i o n l o c a t i o n s u s e d t h e same t y p eo fa n t e n n a ,t h ea n t e n n ah e i g h t was 600' a b o v et h e ground a t t h e l o w e r M a n h a t t a n s i t e a n d o n l y 1 5 0 ' a b o v e ground a t the Chicago and Schaumburg s i t e s . The lower Manhattan s i t e h a s many t a l l b u i l d i n g s i.n c l o s e p r o x i m i t y( w i t h i n a h a l f - a - m i l e ) ,w h i l et h eC h i c a g oa n d Schaumburg a n t e n n a s were i n a more open area. The 8.5 dB g a i n c o l i n e a r a n t e n n a h a s a verynarrowvertical beam w i d t h( a b o u t 9 d e g r e e s ) .N u l l si nt h ev e r t i c a l p a t t e r n on b o t h s i d e s o f t h e m a i n beam (can a f f e c t t h e c l o s e - i nc o v e r a g e( l e s st h a no n e - h a l fm i l e ) . The b a s e antenna used by Shefer is unknown. R i c e used a dipole a t t h eb a s es t a t i o na n dS h e p h e r du s e d a 9 dB g a i n cornerreflector. at thebasestation was a logarithmic IF o u t p u tc a l i b r a t e di n dBm o v e r a 70 dB r a n g e .V a r i a b l e a t t e n u a t i o na h e a do ft h er e c e i v e r was u s e d t o i n c r e a s e t h ed y n a m i cr a n g eo ft h e t e s t s y s t e m . A p o r t a b l e X-Y r e c o r d e r was u s e d t o r e c o r d t h e s i g n a l s t r e n g t h i n f o r m a t i o nw h i l et h ec o n t r o lo p e r a t o ri d e n t i f i e de a c h t r a n s m i s s i o na n d made n o t e s a b o u t t h e : L o c a t i o n , a t t e n u Most o ft h e a t i o ns e t t i n gf o rt h er e c e i v e r ,e t c . t r a n s m i s s i o n s were made w h i l e s t a n d i n g s t i l l a t a particularlocation. The m o n i t o r i n g d e v i c e u s e d

20 dB v a r i a t i o n s f o u n d i n F i g u r e

3.

I ne v a l u a t i n gd a t aa ts t a t i o n a r yp o i n t s ,a n a v e r a g eo ft h ep e a ks i g n a ll e v e l s was made. T h i s was donebecause i t i s easier f o r t h e r e c o r d e r t o i t i s t oc a t c ht h ed e p t h of i n d i c a t e a b r o a dp e a kt h a n a n u l l . The r e c o r d e rb a n d w i d t h i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 Hz. No a d j u s t m e n t o f t h e d a t a i s n e c e s s a r yi fo n l y a c o m p a r i s o no ft h er e l a t i v ed i f f e r e n c eb e t w e e nt h e s i g n a ll e v e l sa tv a r i o u sp o i n t s i s b e i n g made. The mean s i g n a l l e v e l a n d s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n at a particul a r l o c a t i o nc a nb ed e t e r m i n e d by e v a l u a t i n g d a t a shown i nF i g u r e 3 . Walking around the room slowly a l l o w e dt h er e c o r d e rt o show t h es t a n d i n gw a v e s p r e s e n t .( T h e mean v a l u ew a s9 7 . 5 5 dB w i t h a s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o no f 6 . 4 dB.) An a p p r o x i m a t i o nt ot h e mean s i g n a ll e v e lc a na l s ob eo b t a i r e d by s u b t r a c t i n g t h e standarddeviationfromthepeakvalue. Becausemostofthemeasurements were made i n o f f i c et y p eb u i l d i n g s , i t was d i f f i c u l t t o c h o o s e t h e measuremenl tocation. Many r e a d i n g s weJe t a k e ni n hallwaysP . ermission was r e q u e s t e d w , here possible, to enter the office area andtakemeasurements at v a r i o u sl o c a t i o n s . A l l o ft h eb u i l d i n g sw e r e of t h e c l a s s 1 t y p e( g r e a t e rt h a n 1 0 0 ' x 100' o rh i g h e rt h a n 1 t o 50 y e a r s . f o u rf l o o r s )a n dv a r i e di na g ef r o m I n t e r i o r wall c o n s t r u c t i o n v a r i e d f r o m d r y wall t o marble panels. Some m o d e r n buildings contained i n t e r i o r walls made o f m e t a l p a n e l s a n d g l a s s p a r t i t i o n sc o n t a i n i n ga n embedded wire mesh. Needless to s a yt h i st y p eo fc o n s t r u c t i o n makes a v e r y e f f e c t i v e s h i e l dt or fs i g n a l s . On t h eo t h e rh a n d , many of t h e new b u i l d i n g s h a v e a l l g l a s s o u t s i d e w a l l s o r l a r g e g l a s s windows a t t h ef i r s tf l o o rl e v e l . Most e l e v a t o r s a r e e f f e c t i v es h i e l d s ,p r e v e n t i n ga n y communication. A l i s t of most of t h eb u i l d i n g s u s e d i n t h e t e s t i s shown i n T a b l e 1.

a m o d i f i e d FM m o b i l e r e c e i v e r w i t h

F i g u r e 2 shows a t y p i c a l r e c o r d i n g f r o m s e v e r a l s t a t i o n a r yl o c a t i o n s . The r e c o r d i n gp a p e r was moving a t 10 sec/cm. Figure 3 shows t h e s i g n a l v a r i a t i o n i n a room a s t h e p o r t a b l e o p e r a t o r moved a b o u t t h e room ( h o r i z o n t a ls c a l e 1 s e c / c m ) .R i c ea l s oo b s e r v e dt h e

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NEAL SHEPHERD)

FLOOR

FIGURE 1

-AVERAGE

OF PEAK VAL-

FIGURE 2

AVERAGE ATTENUATION BETWEEN STREET LEVEL AND HALLS OF OFFICE BUILDINGS

FL O R

n = number of points

'ii mean of the rampla

FIGURE 4
standard drvirtion of mmpk

TABU 1

LIST O F BUILDINGS ADDRESS Lower Manhattan: 19 RectorStreet 1 7 BatteryPlace 2 Broadway 80 Broad S t r e e t (Exchange Bldg.) ChaseManhatta.n Bank Bldg. 50 PineStreet:Bldg.(VeryLarge) 54 Wall Street: 72 Wall street: 82WallStreet: 100 Wall street 110Wall s t r e e t 1 1 1 WallStreet 14-26 Water S t r e e t 10 HanoverCourt 20 Exchange S t r e e t 817 Broadway 715 Broadway 225 L a f a y e t t e S t r e e t 2 L a f a y e t t eS t r e e t 161WilliamsStreet 59 Maiden Lane (Home Ins.Bldg.) World TradeBldg. 4 1 Park Row (PaceCollege) 1 6 W a l l S t r e e t (Bank) 115 Broadway (U.S. RealtyBldg.) 165 Broadway ( M e r r i l Lynch Aldg.) t 2 0 VeseyStreet City Hall NorthSideofChicago: 909 West F o s t e r Avenue 5009 S h e r i d a n Road (HotelSummerset) Sheridan & Gunnison S t r e e t( S c h o o l ) 4423 S h e r i d a n Road 414 Marine D:cive (School) Sheridan Road 1 Block E . o f Broadway Addis on and ;Broadway Schaumburg, I l l i n o i s : WoodfieldShoppingCenter ( a ) J . C . Penney (b)MarshallField (c) I n s i d eM a l l (d) OtherSmallShopsInsideMall (e) S e a r s Walden Apartments A r l i n g t o n H e i g h t s Towers
AGE -

Over30Years Over 30 Years Over 30 Years Over30Years Under 5 Years Over30 Years Over 30 Years Over 30Years Over 30 Years Under 10Years Over 10Years Under 10Years Under 10Years Under 5 Years Over 30 Years Under 10Years Under 10Years Over 30 Years Over30 Years Over 30 Years Over30 Years Under 5 Years Over30 Years Over 30 Years Over 30Years Under 10Years Over30Years Over 30 Years Over 30 Years Over30 Years Under 10Years Under 30 Years Under 5 Years New B u i l d i n g Over 30 Years Under 5 Years Under 5 Years Under 5 Years Under5Years Under5Years Under 5 Years Under 5 Years Under 10Years

2.2

B u i l d i n gP e n e t r a t i o n

l o s s a tt h e

Same Height

use of t i l ep o r t a b l et r a n s m i t t e re n a b l e d us t o obtainseveralreadingswiththeradioheldin a window o r o u t s i d e o f t h e b u i l d i n g a t v a r i o u s f l o o r s , andthen t o c o m p a r et h e s er e a d i n g sw i t hr e a d i n g st a k e n same f l o o r .I n i nt h em i d d l eo ft h eb d i l d j n go nt h e f a c t , onereadi-ng was m d e w h i l e s t a n d i n g on R catw a l kb e t w e e nt h et w i nt o w e r s of a b u i l d i n g a t t h e 2 3 r d s t o r yl e v e l .T a h i e 2 c o n t a i n s a summary of informat i o no b t a i n e di nt h i s t e s t . Note t h a tt h e mean l o s s v a l u e sm e a s u r e 6 a t f i r s t f l o o r l c > c a t i o n s i n t h e Chicagoarea were s i g n i f i c a n t l y h i g h e r t h a n t h o s e measured i n lower Manhattan. Losses of 1 0 t o 25 dB e x i s t e da ta l lf l o o r sm e a s u r e d . The sample i s small b u te a c hr e a d i n g d o e s r e p r e s e n ta na v e r a g es i g n a l 1.evel a t t h a t p a r t n f t h eb l l i l d i n g .

the Washington data (Figure 4 ) , T h i ss u g g e s t st h a t o t h e r f a c t o r sw e r ep r e s e n ti nt h el o w e rM a n h a t t a nt e s t .

The o u t s i d e s i g n a l i n t h e M a n h a t t a n t e s t s was b o t h s c a t t e r e da n ds h a d e d ,w h i l et h e t e s t s on t h e n o r t h s i d e of Chicagowereperformed ir. l o c a t i o n sw h i c ha l l o w e d a l a r g el i n e - o f - s i g h ts i g n a l to b e present. Selecting d a t af r o mb u i l d i n g sl o c a t e dw i t h i no n e - h a l f mile of t h el o w e rM a n h a t t a ns i t e showed t h e same t r e n d a s t h e o v e r a l ld a t af o rM a n h a t t a n .B u i l d i n g sa b o u t 1.5 t o 2 m i l e s n o r t h of t h e t e s t a r e a e x h i b i t e d t h e same p a t t e n . The comparison between . 5 mile l o c a t i o n s and 1 . 5 m i l e l o c a t i o n s was made t o s e e i f t h e e f f e c t was due t o a n u l li nt h ea n t e n n ap a t t e r n . Ln o t h e r t e s t s made i n c o n n e c t i o nw i t ht h e 900 MHz p r o p a g a t i o n s t u d i e s i n M a n h a t t a nt h es i g n a ls t r e n g t h sw i t h i no n e - h a l fm i l eo f t h e t r a n s m i t t e r s i t e were about 1 0 dB belowwhat Okumara p r e d i c t s . 5B u i l d i n g si nl o w e rM a n h a t t a na r e i n t h e 20 t o 8 0 s t o r y c a t e g o r y , w h i l e t h e n o r t h C h i c a g oa r e ah a sb u i l d i n g si nt h e 8 t o 1 6 s t o r yr a n g e .

2.3

E f f e c t s of H*ht -

Above StT,egt-I,_eve_l

P r e v i o u s t e s t s c o n p a r ' e dt h es i g n a l l e v e l mdasured on t h e s t r e e t w i t h t h a tm e a s u r e di nt h eb . u i l d i n g . When t h i s W ~ Sdone f u r M a n h a t c a n , t h e b u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n loss d i d n o t char.ge v e r y much as t h e t e s t h e i g h t increased (Figure 4 ) . The Washington, D.C. d a t a shows a p p r o x i m a t e l ya n 11 dB <!is:lge from t h e 4 t h t o 8 t h f l o o r s ,w h i l et h eM m h s t t a nd a t ai n d i c a t e sa b o u t a 3 dB change.3 A t e s t ~ a s~ e t l up on tlxe n o r t h s i d e of C h i c a g o ,w h e r et h eb a s es t a t i o na n t e n n ac o u l db ei n a l e s sc l u t t e r e de n v i r o n m e n t( a n da t a l o w e rh e i g h t ) . The r e s c l t s were more c o n s i s t a n t ( a b o u t 8 dB) w i t h

The shadowing e f f e c t of s u r r o u n d i n gb u i I . d i n g s s h o u l dd e c r e a s e as we move up i n a b u i l d i n g . The lower Planhattan s i t e i s q u i t e c o n g e s t e d w i t h r a t h e r tall b u i l d i n g sa n dt h u st h er e d u c e ds h a d o w i n ge f f e c t m y not become s i g n i f i c a n t u n t i l t h e h i g h e r f l o o r s a r e r e a c h e d . B e c a u s e t h i s was n o t r e a l i z e d when t h e t e s t d a t a was b e i n gt a k e nv e r y few p o i n t s were measuredabovethe 1 2 t hf l o c r .

TABLE I1

Building Signal

Loss

. . I n s i d eB u i l d i n g

Compared t o Outside

B u i l d i n g a t Same Height or a t Window Location

I.,

N o r t h S i d e of Chicago:

L o c a t i oF ni r s Ftl o o 4rtF hl o o t8 o rtF hl o o r

ri=

131th F l o o r
5 17.4 dB 26.75 dB

x =
0"

7
22.5 dB 6.08 dB

3 25 dB 20.83 dB

2.

Lower Manhat t a n :
Locatio Fn i rF sl tG8 o1 tt ro h 0F th l o1 o2 r th-16th

20-21st
6 14-66 dB 8 . 9 0 dB

x =
oT=

n =

26 18.15 dB 5,05 dB

3 22.66 dB 10.96 dB

5 10.60 dB 21.88 dB

3.

Schaumburg, I l l i n o i s : L o c a t iF oin rst

Floor
18 28.76 dB 7.46 dB
5

x =
Q-

n =

2.4

Type of C o n s t r u c t i o n

B u i l d i n g c o n s t r u c t i o n was m e n t i o n e d p r e v i o u s l y i n s e c t i o n 2.1. Table 1 l i s t s most of t h eb u i l d i n g s i t e s u s e d . Many d i f f e r e n tt y p e s of a r c h i t e c t u r a ls t y l e s were e n c o u n t e r e d . A comparison of r e s u l t s o b t a i n e d i n new b u i l d i n g s w i t h t h o s e o b t a i n e d i n o l d b u i l d i n g s showed a n e g l i g i b l ed i f f e r e n c e .L a r g e optsn a r e a sw i t h l a r g e windows e x h i b i t e d low b u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n l o s s . S m a l l a r e a s w i t h a l o t o f m e t a l , showed h i g h e r t h a n a v e r a g el o s s e s ,a sw o u l db ee x p e c t e d . No o t h e rg e n e r a l i z a t i o n sc o u l db e drawn from o u rt e s tr e s u l t s . The

onlysignificanteffectnoted was t h a t t h e mean b u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n loss measured i n New York a t the f i r s t f l o o r was l o w e r t h a n t h a t m e a s u r e d at otherlocations o r a t thesecondandthirdfloorlevelinManhattan. Many o f t h e b u i l d i n g s i t e s s e l e c t e dh a dl a r g eg l a s s windows o r glass walls a t t h e f i r s t f l o o r l e v e l .

2.5

D i s t r i b u t i o n of Data

The d i s t r i b u t i o n o f b u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n d a t a at thethreetest s i t e s i s shown i n F i g u r e s 5, 6, and 7 . The s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n i s less t h a nt h ee x p e c t e dv a l u e of dB. The mean v a l u e of b u i l d i n g p e n e t r a t i o n loss measured i n t h e s e t e s t s i s similar t o t h e v a l u e obt a i n e d i n o t h e r t e s t s a t 900 MHz.

+a

SIGNAL LOSS INSIDE BUILDINGS RELATIVETO STREET

L O W E R MANHATTAN
DATA FOR 1ST AND 2ND FLOOR
40

CLASS 1 BIJILDINGS FREQ.. 937 MHz

ii: = 18.89 dl)

PERCENT OF LOCATIONS IN WHICH THE LOSS DOES NOT EXCEED THAT INDICATED.

FIGURE 5
SIGNAL LOSS INSIDE BUILDINGS RELATIVE TO STREET

SCHAUMBURG, ILL.
R 1ST AND 2ND FLOOR CLASS 1 BUILDING 5

N= 18
X - 28.33 dB
6 = 7.46 dB

RRCENT'OF LOCATIONS I N WHICH THE LOSS DOES NOT EXCEED THAT INDICATED.

FIGURE 6

SIGNAL LOSS INSIDE BUILDINGS RELATIVE TO STREET

N O R T H S I D E OF C H I C A G O

PERCENT OF LOCATIONS IN WHICH THE LOSS DOES MOT EXCEED THAT INDICATED.

FIGURE 7
CONCLUSIONS

5.

The losses measured at 937 MHz appear to be simi9 0 0 MHz by others. lar to the levels measured at

A method for measuring building penetration loss Additional tests must be run in order to collect has been presented which can be used to make quick of data necessary to come up with the large amounts radio surveysor detailed and precise measurements. more accurate figures for the mean value and standard Because the operator is only burdened with a portable radio, themethoti eases the problem of gaining access deviation of data measured under all the conditions investigated in the above tests. The same method may to many different locations. The testing environment be used except that a means of directly interfacing encountered with this method very closely resembles with a computer should be utilized to reduce the that of an actual portable radio system, thus reducing amount of work involved in evaluating the data. the chanceof introducing measurement errors due to the equipment that is used. Because of the relatively REFERENCES small samplesize, the data presentedin this paper should be viewed as suggesting trends that are present L.P. Rice, "Radio Transmission into Buildings at H z rather than as establishing a number for the at 937 M 35 and 150 MC", BSTJ, Vo. 38, pp. 197-210, mean building penetration l o s s . The following trends January 1 9 5 9 . were observed:

1.

Measurements comparing inside to outside signal levels at thesame building height show that 10 a to 25 dB l o s s exists at all floors measured. The height gain factor be mayaltered by other factors. Tests in lower Manhattan showed a much smaller changein building penetrationl o s s with increased height than expected until the test location became taller than the surrouding buildings. Base station antennas cannot always be placed in the clear. Although the lower Manhattan antenna was 600 ft. above the ground, there were many buildings in close proximity to the site which helped to scatter and shade signals transmitred from this location. This factor must b e evaluated to determine maximum reliable range and the closein building coverage from a particular site.
No guide lines could be drawn from the results of

Walter Strack, "Systems Engineering of Personal Radio Signaling Systems", presented at the AIEE Fall GeneralMeeting, Pittsburgh, Pa., October
26-31, 1958.

2.

Dietz, Jules et al., "Examination of the Feasibility of Conventional Land-Mobile Operation at 950 MHz.", FCC Officeof the Chief Engineer, Research Division, Report R7202 (Phase 2 Mobile to Base), May 1973. Joshua Shefer, "Propagation Statistics of 9 0 0 MHz H z Signals Inside Buildings", presented and 450 M at the Microwave Mobile Radio-Symposium, Boulder, C o . , March 7 , 8 and 9, 1.973. Yoshihisa Okumura, et al., "Field Strength and its Variability in VHF and UHF Land-Mobile Radio Service", Reviewof Electrical Communication Laboratory, Vol. 1 6 , September October 1 9 6 8 .

3.

4.

these tests that would help in predicting losses, except for the obvious fact that large areas of external glass will reduce the bui-lding penetration loss.