ANALYSIS OF SPECTRUM OCCUPANCY PREDICTION RESULTS FOR MAITAMA ABUJA

Abstract

This research investigates the efficacy of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) in predicting spectrum occupancy in Maitama, Abuja, Nigeria, focusing on frequency bands ranging from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. The primary objective was to evaluate the accuracy of ANN-based predictions of spectrum usage and compare these predictions with actual measurements. The study employed ANN to forecast spectrum occupancy across various frequency bands, and the predicted data were then compared with empirical measurements to assess the performance of the model. The analysis revealed that prediction errors were generally low across all frequency bands, with most errors falling below 1.5%. Specifically, the 30-47 MHz sub-band demonstrated an average percentage difference between the actual and predicted value of 0.087%, with a maximum error of 1.12% occurring at frequency of 44.65 MHz. For the 47.05-68 MHz band, the average percentage difference was slightly higher at 0.106%, and the maximum error was 2.18% occurring at frequency of 50.2 MHz. In the 68.05-74.8 MHz band, the average percentage error was 0.040%, but with highest error of 0.232% at frequency of 73.95 MHz. The 74.85-87.45 MHz band showed the most accurate predictions with an average error of just 0.010%, and a maximum error of 0.174% at 75.1 MHz. Overall, the highest prediction error was 0.106% in the 47.05-68 MHz band, whereas the lowest was 0.010% in the 74.85-87.45 MHz band. These results highlight the high accuracy of ANN in predicting spectrum usage, demonstrating its potential for effective spectrum management and planning in Maitama, Abuja.