Investigation of adaptive 3D microcellular prediction tools starting from real measurements

It is well known that in a microcellular metropolitan environment the propagation mechanism is strongly affected by geometrical factors (e.g. street widths, building heights). Rigorous ray-tracing computer prediction models are nowadays capable of providing high accuracy in complex microcellular situations. As a matter of fact, the higher accuracy involves time and memory consuming procedures. The aim of this paper is to elaborate on the relationships between the propagation characteristics and the geometrical architecture of the urban environment so as to introduce a novel approach to field strength prediction. The ray-tracing algorithm is designed to be capable of adapting its accuracy to the geometrical complexity for each receiving point in the examined area. The analysis is performed in the Helsinki area based on a ray-tracing prediction program developed at the Laboratories of Villa Griffone and considering real propagation measurements