Abstract
There is a growing interest in understanding wave behavior in urban and suburban environment for 5th generation broadband applications. With the advent of using broadband technologies in buildings, office space and vehicle have become a necessity on a large scale. Models, predictions, and calculations for in-building, within a vehicle or near a reflective object with microscale details, are becoming highly classified in a competitive telecom environment. This paper provides an improved understanding of signal strength behavior within suburban residences with predictions prequalified using a vehicular scanner. Supporting predictions are provided by a ray tracing algorithm developed for dissertation. Results indicate signal strength variation of more than 50 dB from “strong signal” locations such as room centers and far corners to “weak signal” locations where shadowing and tunneling effects are evident. Based on this unique classification a scheme is proposed which indicates that specular scattering provides the major signal energy at more than 70% of the locations within the residences. Finally, an observed rake stabilizing effect is attributed to the proximity of strong scatterers.
Highlights
With the coming of new wireless technologies, Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), wideband-CDMA (WCDMA), 802.11, Bluetooth, and Ultra-wide Band (UWB) systems are rapidly gaining interest and market penetration
Via analysis of measurements and with simulation support, this paper focuses on the topics of improved understanding of signal strength behavior within residences in a suburban environment, in terms of features of the indoor environment; use of rake activity as an indicator of quality of the local radio environment; and impact of terrain, foliage, and nearby buildings on the indoor signal strength
Given knowledge of the base station location, relative to a particular residence in a typical suburban area, the “strongest signal” and “weakest or most variable signal” locations can be predicted based on knowledge of the residence floor plan and locations of major scatterers such as large appliances and cabinetry
Summary
With the coming of new wireless technologies, Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), wideband-CDMA (WCDMA), 802.11, Bluetooth, and Ultra-wide Band (UWB) systems are rapidly gaining interest and market penetration. Indoor coverage available using radio frequencies (1 GHz−3 GHz) in the licensed UHF bands for broadband wireless systems depends on the multipath and attenuation as these electromagnetic waves pass through the structure. With the base station transmitter at an external location, this formula attempts to predict coverage or signal strength within a given structure. An empirical model with transmitter located at only high altitude to study angular reflection and diffraction was presented for a rectangular building by Axiotis and Theologou [6]. Lamp post levels transmitter installation study was presented with interference analysis supporting urban environment structures in 1700 MHz [7], producing a simple path loss model with high k-factors at 2.5 GHz and different building constructions [8] and using “best fit” analysis at 900 MHz [9]. A similar study in urban microcell settings was experimented with time delayed arrivals causing higher interference through buildings [10] and a 2D model for ray tracing within buildings inclusive of building penetration loss [11] with some shadowing and subsequently experimental results with foliage shadowing at 5.85 GHz [12]
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