Empirical Path Loss Models for C-Band Airport Surface Communications

AeroMACS is a system currently under development for airport surface communications. It is based on the IEEE802.16-2009 standard, and is developed in cooperation with the WiMAX forum. The frequency band allocated to AeroMACS is 5091-5150 MHz. When specifying the AeroMACS system, knowledge of typical propagation conditions at airports is of importance. Typically, path loss models are used to estimate the range of a transmitter within different zones of the airport, and typically fading characteristics are used to estimate the performance of, e.g., the selected coding and modulation schemes. Propagation measurements have been performed at the Barajas airport in Madrid, Spain. The measurements includes Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) as well as Line-Of-Sight (LOS) conditions. Based on these measurements, path loss parameters and path loss models are developed for different zones of large airports.