Investigation and Modelling of Path Losses associated with Digital Terrestrial Television Communication Link Within the UHF band in Nigeria

Abstract

The transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting (DTTV) ushered in a new age in worldwide TV culture. The migration necessitates a few technical studies, including path-loss prediction for DTTV communication lines. The purpose of this article is to predict path-loss on DTTV communication links inside UHF bands in Abeokuta, Nigeria, with Ogun State Television as the broadcasting station. Eight receiving sites, two kilometres apart, were chosen along the transmitter's contour. For pathloss prediction related with communication lines at those receiving sites, three empirical path-loss models (ECC-33, Hata, and Okumura) were applied. For a period of twelve months, actual measurements of received signal strength (RSS) and meteorological data (temperature, water vapour pressure, and atmospheric pressure) were taken at seven distinct times of day (0800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600, 1800, and 2000 hours). The measured RSS values and metrological data were used to calculate the real path-loss and surface radio refractivity of each receiving site, respectively. The gathered data were divided into dry and wet seasons, and separate models (Mwet-NO and Mdry-NO) for path-loss estimation were developed using multiple regression analysis. Metrics used for model evaluation were Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Coefficient of Correlation, Coefficient of Multiple Regression, Mean Absolute Error and Mean Pathloss. Results shows that only Okumura model was close to actual path-loss obtained from measurements, indicating that both Hata and COST-231 models were un-suitable, further analysis revealed that Mwet-NO and Mdry-NO; compare well with the actual path-loss, hence, suitable for pathloss prediction in the study area.