Educational software tool based on a geographical information system (GIS) for radio wave propagation analysis

A tool is presented to evaluate and represent path loss, delay-spread, and the direction of arrival in graph form of each contribution considered in the propagation over buildings in urban scenarios. A geographical information system (GIS) and a ray-tracing technique are used in order to facilitate the understanding of the main propagation mechanisms in a more realistic environment, and the fields are evaluated using geometrical optics (GO) and the uniform theory of diffraction (UTD). This tool may be used to illustrate the influence of the propagation environment on radio wave parameters to telecommunications engineering students.