Home > Published Issues > 2024 > Volume 19, No. 8, 2024 >
JCM 2024 Vol.19(8): 375-388
DOI: 10.12720/jcm.19.8.375-388

Investigation of Path Loss in a Complex Building Environment Using USRP and GNU Radio

Akinyele A. Itamakinde1,*, Temitayo O. Ejidokun1, Babatunde S. Adejumobi3, Thokozani Shongwe2, Emmanuel Adetiba3,4, and Israel Esan Owolabi1,
1Department of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
2Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa
3Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria
4HRA, Institute for Systems Science, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa
Email: aitamakinde@abuad.edu.ng (A.A.I.); ejidokunto@abuad.edu.ng (T.O.E.); adejumobibabatunde@gmail.com (B.S.A.); tshongwe@uj.ac.za (T.S.); emmanuel.adetiba@covenantuniversity.edu.ng (E.A.); eowolabi2002@yahoo.com (I.E.O.)
*Corresponding author

Manuscript received October 13, 2023; revised December 20, 2023; accepted December 26, 2023; published August 14 2024.

Abstract—This paper presents the description, measurements, and analysis of an investigation into the path loss channel characteristics of a complex building environment using the College of Engineering building of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria as a case study. The study is conducted on the first floor of the building, which is compartmentalized into five scenarios. The measurements are performed in the distinctive line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight paths. Over 90% of the measurements taken are in the non-line-of-sight environment of the complex building. The wideband sliding correlator channel sounder measurement technique of 1.2 GHz centre frequency was performed using the National Instrument Universal Software Radio Peripheral (NI USRP) 2920/GNU (GNU’s Not Unix) radio testbed. Key statistical considerations associated with path loss are calculated and the path loss equation model for the non-line-of-sight and line-of-sight of the entire first floor of the complex building is obtained. The results of the investigation show that an increase in path loss is a function of distance. The calculated path loss exponents were used to rate the performance of the wireless communication channel. The values obtained were found to be in tandem with the existing path loss metrics.  Also, the radio propagation along the enclosed passages and indoor environments experienced low path loss, while the radio propagation along the ornamental trees encountered large path loss. Consequently, the results of the linear regression model and the log-normal model equation of Nonline of Sight ( NLOS) and Line of Sight (LOS) results are somehow correlated. These results are useful in predicting the path loss of the radio signal at any specific distance from the transmitter to the receiver in any environment similar to the one under investigation. Also, as a planning and coverage optimization tool for wireless communication designers. 
 

Keywords—channel propagation, log-normal model, path loss, regression analysis, sliding correlator, software-defined radio, GNU radio


Cite: Akinyele A. Itamakinde, Temitayo O. Ejidokun, Babatunde S. Adejumobi, Thokozani Shongwe, Emmanuel Adetiba, and Israel Esan Owolabi, “Investigation of Path Loss in a Complex Building Environment Using USRP and GNU Radio," Journal of Communications, vol. 19, no. 8, pp. 375-388, 2024 .

 

Copyright © 2024 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the article is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.