ABSTRACT
This research studies the propagation prediction variations of three models over a Nigerian urban environment and the development of a suitable propagation prediction model for the environment. The measurements of the received signal strength at various distances for nine base stations were conducted at Celtel,Kano. The measurement equipment used consists of a Test Mobile System (TEMS) connected to GPS and radio antennas. The TEMS was mounted inside a car that was driven along an open route for each of the sectors selected from the nine base stations. Three macro cell propagation models: COST- 231 Hata, Lee and COST-231 Walfisch-Ikegami models were examined with respect to nine base stations of Celtel, Kano. The results gave mean prediction error values of -0.7dB,-4.2dB and 8.9dB for COST- 231 Hata, Lee and COST-231Walfisch-Ikegami models respectively. The analysis show that the COST-231 Hata and Lee models underestimate the path loss for this environment, while the COST-231 Walfisch-Ikegami model over predict the environment. The new propagation prediction model was developed from the three modified propagation models.