Numerical analysis of the impact of building face features on LMS channel modelling

Propagation channel models have become an essential issue when designing and optimising satellite communications or navigation systems. As far as the LMS (Land Mobile Satellite) propagation channel is concerned, many techniques have been developed to reproduce the spatial and temporal properties of the received signals. Physical-statistical methods are one of the most efficient and relevant approaches, combining accuracy, scalability and applicability to systems simulation tools. Here the urban environment is addressed: it will be shown how the various types of elements and features present on building fronts have or do not have a significant impact on the overall scattered power at the receiver. By first using rigorous EM (ElectroMagnetic) tools on limited building face areas, it is possible to analyse the required level of details necessary to represent the environment. Simpler descriptions of the façades will then be used in further work, as inputs to asymptotic method-based tools which can deal with wider urban areas, thus facilitating the parameterization of physical-statistical LMS models.