Measurement of UHF Signal Strength Propagating from Road Surface with Vehicle Obstruction

Authors: C. Thongsopa, P. Sukphongchirakul, A. Intarapanich, P. Jarataku

Abstract:

Radio wave propagation on the road surface is a major problem on wireless sensor network for traffic monitoring. In this paper, we compare receiving signal strength on two scenarios 1) an empty road and 2) a road with a vehicle. We investigate the effect of antenna polarization and antenna height to the receiving signal strength. The transmitting antenna is installed on the road surface. The receiving signal is measured 360 degrees around the transmitting antenna with the radius of 2.5 meters. Measurement results show the receiving signal fluctuation around the transmitting antenna in both scenarios. Receiving signal with vertical polarization antenna results in higher signal strength than horizontal polarization antenna. The optimum antenna elevation is 1 meter for both horizon and vertical polarizations with the vehicle on the road. In the empty road, the receiving signal level is unvarying with the elevation when the elevation is greater than 1.5 meters.

Keywords: Wave propagation, wireless sensor network.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1072219

References:

[1] I. F. Akyildiz, W. Su, Y. Sankarasubramaniam, and E. Cayirci, "A survey on sensor networks," IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 40, pp. 102-114, Aug. 2002.
[2] C. Thongsopa, A. Intarapanich, M. Maungrat, "Temporal Measurement of UHF Radio Wave in Presence of Vehicle," 2009 International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, July 20-24, 2009.
[3] M. Hadzialic, V.Lipovac, N. Behlilovic, "Fading and Propagation Attenuation Based Explicit Analytical Model for the PDF of Mobile Channel Composite Envelope," Proceedings of the 18th International Conference, ICECom, Oct. 12-14, 2005: pp. 1-4 , 2005.
[4] A. Stevens, "Intelligent transport systems, services, solutions, society," IET Intell. Transp. Syst., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-2, Mar 2007.
[5] P. Herley, " Short distance attenuation measurement at 900 MHz and 1.8 GHz using low antenna heights for microcells," IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications., vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 5-11, 1989.
[6] M. Rak and P. Pechac, "UHF propagation in caves and subterranean galleries," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 1134- 1138, 2007.