Characterization of Penetration Strength of GSM Signals (900 MHz) and their attenuation within some selected Buildings at the University of Ibadan

• Published in: IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science 2021-02, Vol.655 (1), p.12035
• Main Authors: Ogunsola, O.E., Adeleke, O., Gbadamosi, I.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attenuation; Budgets; Buildings; Cellular communication; Corridors; Parameter estimation; Penetration; Signal strength; Smartphones
• ISSN: 1755-1307; 1755-1315
• DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/655/1/012035

The diverse challenges been encountered by GSM subscribers within some locations at the University of Ibadan through their usual transits within and outside of buildings, before been able to receive uninterrupted flow of GSM communication due to signal fade and call drop, motivated the need to attempt to characterize signal strength penetration in buildings. This characterization would assist in determining the link budget required for a better Quality of Service (QoS) in this community. However, signal strength path measurement from GSM transmitter (i.e. base station) to the receiver is amongst the parameters required in estimating signal attenuation. Thus, in order to be able to estimate the magnitude of signal penetrations into buildings at the University of Ibadan, the factory fitted signal strength software installed on an android phone was utilized in obtaining the signal strengths of the four major GSM service providers (940MHz, 950MHz, 955MHz and 960MHz) operating in this vicinity. These measurements were taken for three weeks during the daily peak hours of communication (09Hr, 12Hr, 15Hr, and 18Hr) within every three minutes interval, at eight selected buildings (isolated and non-isolated) due to their closeness to GSM base stations. Analysis of data showed that the signal strengths at corridors of both isolated and non-isolated buildings are stronger than those indoors. Moreover, the signal attenuation used in depicting signal fade further showed that the attenuation increased at indoors more than corridors. This increment in indoor attenuations could be due to resistance against signals by the materials utilized in the construction of these buildings. In essence, the base station’s transmission power for this community should be increased by the various GSM network service providers in order to overcome attenuation problem. Likewise, the determined penetration attenuation allowance value of 15dB could be utilized in designing their link budget for a better QoS.