Comparison of Outdoor Radiowave Propagation Models for Land Mobile Systems in the 3.6 GHz and 6 GHz Frequency Bands

This paper presents a comparative analysis of three outdoor wave propagation models—ITU-R P.1546-6, the SUI model, and ITU-R P.452-17—benchmarked against the deterministic Parabolic Equation Modeling (PEM) method at 3.6 GHz and 6 GHz. The evaluation focuses on prediction accuracy (RMSE, MAE, bias, relative error), terrain sensitivity, and computational efficiency. At 3.6 GHz, ITU-R P.1546-6 shows poor terrain responsiveness and high relative errors, while ITU-R P.452-17 demonstrates strong terrain sensitivity and low errors in flat areas, but decreased accuracy over hilly terrain. At 6 GHz, the SUI model consistently underestimates field strength and exhibits weak terrain sensitivity, limiting its use to rough estimations. In contrast, ITU-R P.452-17 maintains good terrain correlation and acceptable accuracy, although it slightly overestimates field strength in complex environments. The results confirm that prediction accuracy, terrain sensitivity, and bias are highly model- and frequency-dependent. ITU-R P.452-17 emerges as the most reliable and computationally efficient alternative to deterministic methods when terrain effects must be considered without significant computational overhead.