Radio coverage simulation for three-dimensional urban environment using physical optics, physical theory of diffraction and the near-to-far-field transformation method

The objective of this paper is the presentation of a three-dimensional model which simulates the electromagnetic propagation in outdoor urban areas for GSM frequencies (900 - 1800 MHz), through the combination of separate propagation mechanisms. The simulation results of each propagation mechanism are analyzed in order to derive its contribution to the total received field. The simulation program is created using Matlab. The mechanisms considered for evaluation are the Line-of-Sight, scattering and diffraction. The produced radio coverage diagrams indicate the importance of scattering and diffraction as mechanisms of electromagnetic propagation in mobile telecommunications coverage in dense urban environments. They also provide a satisfactory radio coverage prediction for three-dimensional space taking into account the difference in height between the transmitter and the receiver.