Military operations in urban terrain: indoor radio frequency propagation prediction methods

This paper investigates the applicability of two current military tactical communications technologies to military operations in urban terrain (MOUT): Single channel ground and airborne radio system (SINCGARS) and squad radios. Various existing radio frequency (RF) propagation prediction (or path loss) methods for urban environments were surveyed. The primary criterion for the selection of methods of consideration was that they must be valid over the 30-88 MHz frequency range of primary interest. Predicted results from chosen analytical tools were compared to measurements taken using a hardware suite representative of SINCGARS on the campus of The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) for select indoor propagation scenarios. A new analytical indoor path loss model is derived from measurements by methods of polynomial and power curve fitting for a typical one-story office building. Also, modifications made to chosen analytical models yielded more accurate predictions.