Cellular Mobile Signal Propagation; Effects of EIRP and Antenna Gain

This paper compares the cellular mobile network signals and transmission properties of two mobile service networks. The background theories for the propagation of cellular mobile signals were reviewed. A mobile signal analyzer capable of measuring power density was used to measure the received signal power density at varied distances from a base station transmitter. The received signal power density was measured in two scenarios: highly obstructed and less obstructed areas. Based on the results, it was concluded that the network that uses higher EIRP value of 64.5dBm with lower antenna gain of 17.5dB covered more distance up to 3000m from the BS transmitter before fading below-100dB compared to the network that uses lower EIRP of 64.00dBm and higher gain of 18dB, which faded faster below-100dBm from distance of 2250m. Hence, higher EIRP value was concluded to support the transmitted signal to cover more distance with higher strength than higher antenna gain