Evaluation of the frequency scaling prediction techniques using experimental data

Abstract

Long-term statistics of measured slant-path attenuation above Ku-band are severely scarce in the tropical climate; due to the huge capital costs involved in the experimental setup and receiver margin required, which is very difficult to obtain by using a spectrum analyzer. The received signal becomes masked at heavy rain rates owing to the high noise level therefore the signal level could not be monitored. Therefore the frequency scaling technique is a useful and powerful tool for estimating the attenuation at a desired frequency when the measurement data are available at a particular, usually lower, frequency. The results of measured rain attenuation from a tropical climate in Malaysia were used to investigate the performance of a few frequency scaling techniques. The experimental results were obtained from the four experimental microwave links (15, 22, 26, and 38 GHz at a separation distance of 300 m) installed at UTM campus, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The results of the statistical analysis show that the ITU-R model is the most suitable for the lower frequency (26 GHz), while the Drufuca model is most suitable one for the higher frequency (38 GHz).