Double Regression: Efficient spatially correlated path loss model for wireless network simulation

The accuracy of wireless network packet simulation critically depends on the quality of the wireless channel models. These models directly affect the fundamental network characteristics, such as link quality, transmission range, and capture effect, as well as their dynamic variation in time and space. Path loss is the stationary component of the channel model affected by the shadowing in the environment. Existing path loss models are inaccurate, require very high measurement or computational overhead, and/or often cannot be made to represent a given environment. The paper contributes a flexible path loss model that uses a novel approach for spatially coherent interpolation from available nearby channels to allow accurate and efficient modeling of path loss. We show that the proposed model, called Double Regression (DR), generates a correlated space, allowing both the sender and the receiver to move without abrupt change in path loss. Combining DR with a traditional temporal fading model, such as Rayleigh fading, provides an accurate and efficient channel model that we integrate with the NS-2 simulator. We use measurements to validate the accuracy of the model for a number of scenarios. We also show that there is substantial impact on simulation behavior (e.g., up to 600% difference in throughput for simple scenarios) when path loss is modeled accurately.