Remcom Inc.315 S. Allen St., Suite 416 State College, PA 16801 USA

Tel: 1-814-861-1299 Fax: 1-814-861-1308 sales@remcom.com www.remcom.com© 2011 Remcom Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview

Propagation Models

• Originally developed for outdoor urban radio propagation predictions

• Extended to irregular terrain, foliage, indoor, and indoor-outdoor predictions

• Physics-based models using ray methods with GTD/UTD diffraction and FDTD based models.

• Uses computer graphics techniques for fast ray shooting

Propagation Models (2)

• Ray models include 2D, full vector 3D, and fast 3D algorithms

• Evaluate E-fields using UTD and material-dependent reflection and transmission coefficients,

• Combine E-fields with antenna patterns to find path loss, time-of-arrival, angle-of-arrival, etc.

Propagation ModelsRay Based UTD Models

• Two-Dimensional “Urban Canyon” Model– Assumes very tall buildings, a flat ground and low antenna

heights– Omits paths over rooftops and shadowing by terrain

• Full Three-Dimensional Model– Executes a full 3D ray tracing– Full implementation of UTD formulation

• Irregular Terrain Model– Propagation paths in the vertical plane

Graphical User Interface (GUI)• Specify electromagnetic properties of materials• Specify location of field points

– Specify properties of associated antennas– Set frequency or waveform characteristics

• Configure calculation models to generate output– View output in the project view– Plot data in output files including .pdf and .cdf

• Import, edit and view geometrical features such as buildings, terrain, foliage and floor plans

GUI Modular Design

Project viewProject hierarchy

Main window

Project Hierarchy Window

• Gives a condensed view of all items in the project

• Supports multiple selection

• Some information is only available in the hierarchy:– Tx/Rx set id numbers that

correspond to the output files generated by the calculation engine

– Project view settings

Project Hierarchy is Keyed to Graphical Display

Context Menus

Context menu’s are available by right-clicking on a highlighted item in any of these windows

Features

• Features represent the geometry in the project that the propagation rays interact with to produce reflections, diffractions and transmissions

• All features are positioned in the project based on their geographic origin

• Features are structured as vector data

• Features can be imported from files in AutoCAD’s DXF format

Features (2)

• Each feature type is used for a different purpose and provides a different set of commands to interact with it. For example:– Cities are composed of buildings that can be conformed to the

terrain and simplified to remove unnecessary detail, resulting in faster calculations

– The Terrain can render itself with images projected onto it, such as topographic maps and aerial photographs

– Foliage is rendered translucently and has a special subset of materials specific to it

– Floor plans have special editing options– Objects represent complicated models (usually imported from a

CAD source). These feature types can be pre-processed in a special way for the calculation.

Materials

• Material properties are used to determine reflection, transmission and diffraction coefficients

• A database of predefined materials, such as concrete, wood, metal, glass and water is provided. Additional materials can be created and added to the database.

Materials (2)

• Users can define a material based on a file with information about angle, frequency and polarization coefficients

• Each face in a feature is assigned a material

• Each material has a color so it can be distinguished from other materials

• Each material appears in the project legend

• Special materials are included for foliage feature types

Transmitters and Receivers

• Transmitters are the points of input radiation into the project. Receivers are collections of field points where output from the calculation is obtained.

• Both transmitters and receivers have an associated antenna and waveform

Transmitters and Receivers (2)

• Transmitters and receivers provide many different layout options for their points. The points can be placed:– Independently

• Points can also be mounted on faces of the geometry in the same manner

– Along a connected set of line segments• This route can be extruded into a vertical surface of

points– Within a rectangular region– Along the circumference of a circle

• The set type can be extruded into a cylinder– As a sphere of points

Antennas

• Each transmitter and receiver in the project needs an associated antenna

• Antennas can be imported from several formats, such as NSMA, Odyssey and MSI Planet

• Antenna files can be added to a database and users can create custom antennas

Antennas (2)

• Many generic antenna types are available with parameters that can be customized by the user, such as:– Linear dipole, pyramidal horn,

patches, apertures, helix, parabolic reflector, directional antennas, and others

• Antenna patterns can be viewed in the project window

• Plots of cuts from the pattern can be generated

The 3D rendering of an antenna in its properties window

Waveforms

• Each transmitter and receiver in the project must have a specific waveform assigned to it

• Wireless InSite contains a waveform database users can select from

Waveforms (2)

• The properties of a waveform are used to determine the reflection, transmission, and diffraction coefficients of materials during the calculation

• Currently supported waveforms include:– Blackman envelope– Chirp– Gaussian and Gaussian derivative– Hamming envelope– Hanning envelope– Raised cosine and root raised cosine– Sinusoid– Tukey envelope– User-defined

Study Areas

– Study areas allow users to specify a region in the project for which a given calculation model can be run

– Supported models are Urban Canyon, Full 3D, X3D, Hata and COST-Hata, UPPS, Vertical plane, Moving Window and Urban Canyon FDTD methods

– These models can be configured by the user

Running a Calculation• Once the model to be run is specified, and the project has

all of the required features (tx/rx set with their associated antennas and waveforms), it can be run to produce various types of output

• The calculation can be rerun using more efficient modes at a later time as long as the geometry has not been modified

Communication Analysis

• Bit-error rate and throughput toolbox output can be created after the calculation is run by specifying a communication system

• If a system is active, then it will launch its post-processing automatically when the calculation has finished

• Communication system analysis can also be run independently assuming that the output available to the project is current

Output• Output generated by the

calculation can be viewed in the Project view window and plotted for detailed analysis

• Many types of output can be created based on what is selected under the ‘Requested output’ tab

• The propagation paths retained by the calculation during the ray casting can also be viewed

Output (2)

View of received power output from ‘TX 15’

Plot of received power from ‘TX 15’ to the points in the ‘Moore St.’ receiver set.

Output Urban Example: Ray Paths and Signal Strength

New Features and Enhancements• New X3D ray model with multi-threading and XStream® GPU

acceleration• Moving Window FDTD now with XStream® GPU acceleration• Moving Window FDTD now has the ability to model complex

antennas• Ground bounce effects added to Real Time Vertical Plane Urban

Propagation Model• Ground bounce effects added to Real Time Triple Path Geodesic

Urban Propagation Model• Data Throughput Toolbox for WiMax and LTE• Atmospheric Absorption in X3D Ray Model, extending to 100 GHz• New ability to post process multiple transmitter output

Summary

• Wireless InSite provides general radio propagation prediction for outdoor, indoor, and outdoor-indoor situations

• Calculation input and results are organized and controlled using tabbed windows and file trees

• Complicated geometries may be entered using Wireless InSite editors or by importing a file

• Fast calculation• Available for Windows and Linux (engine only)

operating systems