Characterizing Indoor Wireless Channels via Ray Tracing, and Validation via Measurements

Abstract

We investigate the reliability of radio channel simulators in capturing the important properties of radio channels throughout a well-specified environment. Indoor environments for which the geometric layout and material properties of surfaces are known lend themselves to such site-specific simulation. Our aim is to assess the performance of this approach by comparing its predictions with measurements in a specific environment. The measurements are made on 18 paths in the ORBIT Laboratory of Rutgers University's WINLAB; and the simulator we use is the WiSE ray-tracing tool developed by Bell Labs. The comparisons are made for three parameters that largely characterize a radio path's behavior: Path loss; Ricean K-factor; and RMS delay spread. The measurements are made over a 1-GHz bandwidth centered on 3.5 GHz. The comparisons show good agreement over the set of paths measured and simulated, establishing confidence that a well-designed radio simulator can be used reliably in system studies.