A power cable model for partial discharge (PD)pulse propagation requires knowledge of all factors influencingthe transmission line parameters of the cable (characteristicimpedance, attenuation coefficient and propagation velocity).These frequency dependent quantities are related, amongst others, to the dielectric properties of the semi-conducting layers.This paper discusses methods to estimate the characteristicimpedance, attenuation coefficient and propagation velocity using the cable geometryand the material properties of conductor, conductor shield, XLPE and semi-conducting layers. Measurementson cable samples show that the cable characteristics can be approximated withsufficient accuracy for PD signal propagation modeling, e.g. estimati...