Applicability of ray-tracing technique for the prediction of outdoor channel characteristics

When the ray-tracing technique is employed to calculate outdoor channel characteristics, the input parameters, such as the geometrical layout of streets, buildings, and surroundings, are usually much simplified. In this paper, whether the ray-tracing technique with simplified input parameters can be applied to predict outdoor channel properties is examined and discussed. The delay profiles, the average propagation losses, and the root mean square delay spreads obtained by simulations and by wide-band measurements are compared and analyzed. It is found that the respective delay profiles can be very different. This indicates that the scattering mechanisms in the real environment are different from those considered in simulations. However, the respective average propagation losses and root mean square delay spread can match very well. Nevertheless, the neglect of the distant buildings and incorrect input of the layout geometry can result in a large difference in the calculated statistical parameters