The paper describes a geometrical optics based model to predict propagation within buildings for personal communication system (PCS) design. A ray tracing model for predicting propagation based on a building blueprint representation is presented for a transmitter and receiver located on the same floor inside a building. Measured and predicted propagation data are presented as power delay profiles that contain the amplitude and arrival time of individual multipath components. Measured and predicted power delay profiles are compared on a location-by-location basis to provide both a qualitative and a quantitative measure of the model accuracy. The concept of effective building material properties is developed, and the effective building material properties are derived for two dissimilar buildings based upon comparison of measured and predicted power delay profiles. Time delay comparison shows that the amplitudes of many significant multipath components are accurately predicted by this model. Path loss between a transmitter and receiver is predicted with a standard deviation of less than 5 dB over 45 locations in two different buildings. >

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Site-specific propagation prediction for wireless in-building personal communication system design

Diffraction propagation over hills and ridges at VHF and UHF is commonly estimated using Fresnel knife edge diffraction. This approach has the advantage of simplicity, and for many geometries yields accurate results. However, since it neglects the shape and composition of the diffracting surface, it can in some cases yield results which are in serious disagreement with measurements. To remedy this, attempts have been made to approximate the diffracting hill or ridge by other shapes, most notably cylinders. These approaches have not been widely adopted, due in large part to their greater numerical complexity. In this paper it is proposed to apply wedge diffraction in the format of the geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD), modified to include finite conductivity and local surface roughness effects. It is shown that, for geometries with grazing incidence and/or diffraction angles, significant improvement in accuracy is obtained. Further, the GTD wedge diffraction form used is based on the Fresnel integral, so that it is only slightly more complex numerically than knife edge diffraction. Finally, the GTD includes reflections from the sides of the ridge (wedge faces), and can be extended to multiple ridge diffraction and three-dimensional terrain variations.

Finite conductivity uniform GTD versus knife edge diffraction in prediction of propagation path loss

Heuristic wedge diffraction coefficients for computing propagation path loss over finitely conducting earth are extended to include slope diffraction, with the assumption that propagation of energy through the wedge is negligible. The slope diffraction terms for the lossy wedge are obtained in an analogous manner as for the perfectly conducting case, except that special care must be taken with the factor multiplying the incident field for grazing incidence. Results given show that the slope diffraction term produces continuous results that behave reasonably when compared with results for perfectly conducting wedges. >

A heuristic UTD slope diffraction coefficient for rough lossy wedges

Current indoor wireless communication systems are shifting from classical microwave bands towards mm wave frequencies, whereas here the 60 GHz band is of special interest. Future systems are expected to work at even higher carrier frequencies in the sub-mm band beyond 300 GHz. In indoor wave propagation channels of such systems, diffraction occurs at a multitude of objects and hence must be considered for propagation simulations. Although the relevance of diffraction has been thouroughly studied at lower frequencies, it has not yet been analyzed methodically in the mm and sub-mm wave frequency range. This paper presents an extensive measurement campaign of the diffraction at objects like edges, wedges and cylinders for frequencies of 60 and 300 GHz. Different materials, realistic antennas as well as transmission through the objects are taken into account. Theoretical approaches are validated against the measurement results. Furthermore, shadowing of rays by persons is investigated and modeled with the help of diffraction. Finally, ray tracing is applied in an office scenario in order to evaluate the impact of diffraction on mm and sub-mm wave indoor channel characteristics.

Diffraction in mm and Sub-mm Wave Indoor Propagation Channels

A uniform high-frequency solution is presented for the diffraction by a wedge with impedance faces illuminated by a plane wave perpendicularly incident on its edge. Arbitrary uniform isotropic impedance boundary conditions may be imposed on the faces of the wedge, and both the transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) cases are considered. This solution is formulated in terms of a diffraction coefficient which has the same structure as that of the uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) for a perfectly conducting wedge. Its extension to the present case is achieved by introducing suitable multiplying factors, which have been derived from an asymptotic evaluation of the exact solution given by Maliuzhinets. When the field point is located on the surface near the edge, a more accurate asymptotic evaluation is employed to obtain a high-frequency expression for the diffracted field, which is suitable for several specific applications. The formulation described in this paper may provide a useful, rigorous basis to search for a more numerically efficient but yet accurate approximation.

A uniform GTD formulation for the diffraction by a wedge with impedance faces

A high frequency solution for scattering from a thin dielectric slab is developed, based on a modification of the uniform geometrical theory of diffraction solution for a haft-plane, with the intention of developing a model for a windshield of a small private aircraft. Results of the theory are compared with experimental measurements and moment method calculations showing good agreement. Application of the solution is also addressed.

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K. Burgener

Papers

High frequency scattering by a thin lossless dielectric slab