Investigation of building dielectric properties and the effects on indoor radio channel

Since the channel prediction is essential for the successful implementation of an indoor wireless system, there is an increased demand for accurate deterministic modelling of indoor radio channels. Dielectric properties of building materials determine the reflection and the transmission characteristics and consequently affect radio wave propagation within indoor environments. This paper presents an in-situ method for obtaining the dielectric parameters of building materials. A ray-tracing method is developed to examine the effects of these parameters on the channel characteristics. Simulation results demonstrate that the dielectric properties of building materials have various degrees of effects on indoor channel path loss and time delay characteristics. This indicates that the accurate information on building dielectric properties is required for indoor channel characterisation and the method we used for this purpose is recommended.