Fast, Accurate RF Propagation Modeling and Simulation Tool for Highly Cluttered Environments

As the network centric warfare and distributed operations paradigms unfold, there is a growing need for robust wireless network deployment tools. These tools must take into consideration the terrain of the operating theater, and facilitate modeling of end to end network performance based on accurate RF propagation predictions. It is well known that statistical models can not provide accurate, site specific predictions of radio channel behavior. In this paper an event-driven wave propagation simulation is proposed as a computationally efficient technique for predicting critical propagation characteristics of RF signals in cluttered environments. Convincing validation and simulator performance studies confirm the suitability of this method for indoor and urban area RF channel modeling. By integrating our RF propagation prediction tool, RCSIM, with popular packet-level network simulators, we are able to construct an end to end network analysis tool for wireless networks operating in built-up urban areas.