Abstract
An efficient, full-wave computational technique to investigate the electromagnetic wave propagation within a complex building environment, resulting from contemporary indoor communication systems, is proposed. Unlike a standard ray-tracing technique, this new methodology is based on the parabolic wave equation (PE), appropriately modified to deal with the extremely wide-angle propagation cases, encountered in a typical wireless system of this kind. It is also successfully applied to model the field in the presence of walls, doors or other penetrable structures, taking into account the exact geometric configuration of the environment under consideration. Next, the PE technique is significantly enhanced by an integral equation formulation, in which the computed field in the interior of the walls and other obstacles is used as a secondary equivalent current source and a corrected version of the electromagnetic field is recalculated in the whole indoor environment. This combined approach has all the advantages of a full wave method, does not call for a highly dense mesh, and it also has moderate requirements of computational resources.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bertoni H.L., (2000). Radio Propagation for Modern Wireless Systems, NJ. Prentice Hall.
Parsons J.D., (2000) The Mobile Radio Propagation Channel. New York, Wiley
Dersch U., Zollinger E., (1994) “Propagation Mechanism in Microcell and Indoor Environments”. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology 43(4): 1058–1066
Honcharenko W., Bertoni H.L., Dailing J., (1992) “Mechanism Governing Propagation on Single Floors in Modern Office Buildings”. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 41(4): 496–504
Athanasiadou G. E., Nix A.R., McGeehan J.P., (1995) “A Ray Tracing Algorithm for Microcellular and Indoor Propagation Modelling”. IEE Conference on Antennas and Propagation 2(407): 231–235
Chen S.H., Jeng S.K., (1997) “An SBR/Image Approach for Radio Wave Propagation in Indoor Environments with Metallic Furniture”. IEEE Transactions on Antennas Propagation 45(1): 98–106
Ghobadi G., Shepherd P.R., Pennock S.R., (1998) “2D Ray-Tracing Model for Indoor Radio Propagation at Millimeter Frequencies and the Study of Diversity Techniques”. IEE Proceedings on Microwave Antennas Propagation 145(4):349–353
Ji Z., Li B.-H., Wang H.-X., Chen H.-Y., Zhou Y.-G., (1999) “An Improved Ray-Tracing Propagation Model for Predicting Path Loss on Single Floors”. Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, 22(1):39–41
Agelet F.A. et al., (2000) “Efficient Ray-Tracing Acceleration Techniques for Radio Propagation Modeling”. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 49(6):2089–2104
Liang G., Bertoni H.L., (1998) “A New Approach to 3D Ray Tracing for Propagation Prediction in Cities”. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 46(6):853–863
Levy M., (2000) Parabolic Equation Methods for Electromagnetic Wave Propagation. London UK, IEE
Dockery G.D., (1988) “Modeling Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in the Troposphere using the Parabolic Equation”. IEEE Transactions on Antennas Propagation, 36: 1464–1470
Zaporozhets A.A., Levy M.F., (1996) “Modeling of Radiowave Propagation in Urban Environment with Parabolic Equation Method”. Electronic Letters, 32(17):1615–1616
Donohue D.J., Kuttler J.R., (2000) “Propagation Modeling over Terrain using the Parabolic Wave Equation", IEEE Transactions on Antennas Propagation, 48: 260–277
Zelley C.A., Constantinou C.C., (1999) “A Three-Dimensional Parabolic Equation Applied to VHF/UHF Propagation over Irregular Terrain”. IEEE Transactions on Antennas Propagation, 47:1586–1596
Sevgi L., Akleman F., Felsen L.B., (2002) “Groundwave Propagation Modeling: Problem-Matched Analytic Formulations and Direct Numerical Techniques”. IEEE Antennas Propagation Magazine, 44(1):55–75
Janaswamy R., (2003) “Path Loss Predictions in the Presence of Buildings on Flat Terrain: a 3D Vector Parabolic Equation Approach”. IEEE Transactions on Antennas Propagation, 51(8):1716–1728
Awadallah R.S., Gehman J.Z., Kuttler J.R., Newkirk M.H., (2005) “Effects of Lateral Terrain Variations on Tropospheric Radar Propagation”. IEEE Transactions on Antennas Propagation, 53(1): 420–434
Crank J., Nicholson P., (1947) “A Practical Method for Numerical Evaluation of Solutions of Partial Differential Equations of the Heat-conducting Type”. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 43: 50–67
Hadley G.R., (1992) “Wide-angle Beam Propagation using Padé Approximant Operators”. Optics Letters, 17(20):1426–1428
Hadley G.R., (1992) “Multistep Method for Wide-Angle Beam Propagation”. Optics Letters, 17(24): 1743–1745
Berenger J., (1994) “A Perfectly Matched Layer for the Absorption of Electromagnetic Waves”. Journal of Computations Physics, 114(2):185–200
Sacks Z. S., Kingsland D.M., Lee R., Lee J.-F., (1995) “A Perfectly Matched Anisotropic Absorber for use as an Absorbing Boundary Condition”. IEEE Transactions on Antennas Propagation, 43(12): 1460–1463
Werner D.H., Mittra R., (1997) “A New Field Scaling Interpretation of Berenger’s PML and its Comparison to other PML Formulations”. Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, 16(2):103–106
Jin J., The Finite Element Method in Electromagnetics, New York: Wiley. 1993; 2002.
Collin R.E., (1990) Field Theory of Guided Waves. New York, IEEE press
Safaai-Jazi A., Riad S.M., Muqaibel A., Bayram A., “Ultra-wideband Propagation Measurements and Channel Modeling; Through-the-Wall Propagation and Material Characterization”, DARPA NETEX program (2002)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Theofilogiannakos, G.K., Yioultsis, T.V. & Xenos, T.D. An Efficient Hybrid Parabolic Equation – Integral Equation Method for the Analysis of Wave Propagation in Highly Complex Indoor Communication Environments. Wireless Pers Commun 43, 495–510 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-007-9246-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-007-9246-7