Interactive Computation of Coverage Regions for Indoor Wireless Communication

Oc..+. 95" TI1is paper describes a system which assists in the strategic placement of RF base stations within buildings. Known as the Site Modeling Tool (SMT), this system allows the user to display graphical floor plans and to select base station transceiver parameters. including location and orientation. interactively. The system then computes ancl highlights estimated coverage regions for each transceiver. enabling the user to assess the total coverage within the building. For single-Door operation, the user can choose between distance-dependent and partition-dependent path-loss models. Similar path-loss models are also available for the case of multiple floors. This paper describes the method used by the system to estimate coverage for both directional and omnidirectional antennas. The Site Modeling Tool is intenclecl to be simple to use by inclivicluals who are not experts at wireless communication system design. and is expected to be very useful in the specification of indoor wireless systems.