RURAL BROADBAND MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS: SPECTRUM OCCUPANCY and PROPAGATION MODELING in WESTERN MONTANA Erin Wiles Montana Tech
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Montana Tech Library Digital Commons @ Montana Tech Graduate Theses & Non-Theses Student Scholarship Spring 2017 RURAL BROADBAND MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS: SPECTRUM OCCUPANCY AND PROPAGATION MODELING IN WESTERN MONTANA Erin Wiles Montana Tech Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/grad_rsch Part of the Electrical and Electronics Commons, Electromagnetics and Photonics Commons, and the Other Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Wiles, Erin, "RURAL BROADBAND MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS: SPECTRUM OCCUPANCY AND PROPAGATION MODELING IN WESTERN MONTANA" (2017). Graduate Theses & Non-Theses. 119. http://digitalcommons.mtech.edu/grad_rsch/119 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Digital Commons @ Montana Tech. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses & Non-Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Montana Tech. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RURAL BROADBAND MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS: SPECTRUM OCCUPANCY AND PROPAGATION MODELING IN WESTERN MONTANA by Erin Wiles A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science Electrical Engineering Montana Tech 2017 ii Abstract Fixed and mobile spectrum monitoring stations were implemented to study the spectrum range from 174 to 1000 MHz in rural and remote locations within the mountains of western Montana, USA. The measurements show that the majority of this spectrum range is underused and suitable for spectrum sharing. This work identifies available channels of 5-MHz bandwidth to test a remote mobile broadband network. Both TV broadcast stations and a cellular base station were modelled to test signal propagation and interference scenarios. Keywords: spectrum monitoring, propagation modeling, spectrum management, mobile communication, remote mobile broadband, spectrum occupancy iii Dedication This work is dedicated to those who work hard and never give up. iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Kevin Negus for his guidance and encouragement. I am happy he came to Tech to start the Wireless Lab. I would like to thank the Electrical Engineering Department at Montana Tech and Department Head Dan Trudnowski for providing the funding that allowed me to undertake this research and attend a conference. I would like to thank my husband, Conor Cote, for his love and support as I completed my studies at Tech. I especially appreciate his help in editing and organizing my thesis manuscript. v Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ II DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................... IV LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... IX LIST OF EQUATIONS .............................................................................................................................. XIV GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................... XVII 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................................... 6 3. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................... 9 4. SPECTRUM MONITORING .................................................................................................................. 26 4.1. Methodology .................................................................................................................... 26 4.2. Equipment ........................................................................................................................ 27 4.3. Locations .......................................................................................................................... 37 4.4. Procedure ......................................................................................................................... 39 4.5. Results .............................................................................................................................. 50 4.6. Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 57 5. PROPAGATION MODELING................................................................................................................. 79 5.1. Locations .......................................................................................................................... 79 5.2. Methodology .................................................................................................................... 83 5.2.1. Path Loss Parameters ........................................................................................................................ 84 5.2.2. ITM Algorithm ................................................................................................................................... 94 5.2.3. Propagation Mode Case Studies ...................................................................................................... 103 5.3. Results ............................................................................................................................ 108 vi 5.3.1. SPLAT! Irregular Terrain Parameter Calibration .............................................................................. 108 5.3.2. ITM Predictions Compared to Measurements ................................................................................ 115 5.3.3. Interference Simulations ................................................................................................................. 118 6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................ 137 REFERENCES CITED ............................................................................................................................... 138 APPENDIX A: SUMMARY OF SPECTRUM MONITORING STUDIES .......................................................... 148 APPENDIX B: S21 MEASUREMENTS ...................................................................................................... 150 APPENDIX C: OCCUPIED CHANNELS AT MONTANA TECH MUSEUM LOCATION .................................... 163 APPENDIX D: SPLAT! USER CONTROL ................................................................................................... 166 APPENDIX E: ANTENNA PATTERNS ...................................................................................................... 173 vii List of Tables Table I: Problematic Intermodulation Products .................................................................22 Table II: Equipment Summary ...........................................................................................35 Table III: Time Duration for Each Hold ............................................................................58 Table IV: Channel Occupancy Metrics ..............................................................................72 Table V: Occupied Channels at Moose Lake Road Location ............................................74 Table VI: Mobile Communications at Museum and Moose Lake .....................................77 Table VII: Summary of TV UHF Channels .......................................................................81 Table VIII: Population Grid Summary ..............................................................................83 Table IX: Approximate Resolution for Each Elevation SDF File in Montana ..................88 Table X: SPLAT! Irregular Terrain Parameters ................................................................89 Table XI: Suggested Values for Electrical Ground Constants...........................................90 Table XII: Radio Climates and Suggested Values .............................................................91 Table XIII: SPLAT! Test Input Parameters .......................................................................94 Table XIV: Irregular Terrain Parameter for Various Terrains .........................................101 Table XV: Propagation Mode Case Studies ....................................................................103 Table XVI: Path Loss Predictions....................................................................................109 Table XVII: Input Parameters Propagation Type ............................................................111 Table XVIII: Input Parameters Warning Code ................................................................113 Table XIX: Channel Power at Montana Tech Museum ...................................................117 Table XX: Summary of Channel Interference when EVM exceeds 5% .........................134