A RAY TRACING METHOD FOR PREDICTING

PATH LOSS AND DELAY SPREAD IN MICROCELLULAR ENVIRONMENTS

Kurt R. Schaubach, Nathaniel J. Davis IV, and Theodore S. Rappaport
Mobile and Portable Radio Research Group
Bradley Department of Electrical Engineering
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0111
ABSTRACT
The ability to predict path l~ss and delay spread is crucial for
determining coverage and for planning interference reduction strategies in wireless radio system design. This paper presents a promising theoretical method tci accurately predict these channel
characteristics in micro cells.; The method uses modified geometrical optics to evaluate average path loss and delay spread. Quantitative building data, such as lo~ation, height, and electrical properties
are employed to determine_ the individual multipath component
amplitudes and delays. Preliminary verification of the technique
against measured data has 'been conducted. The results illustrate
that accurate path loss predi.ction is possible, with predicted values
being within 5 dB of the measured values. As a result of this study,
a computer program is being developed to automate the prediction
process. The technical issues required for automated propagation
prediction are presented in !his paper. The ray optics model, computer ray tracing techniques, and building data requirements are
also described. Comparisons between simulations and measurements are provided here.

1. INTRODUCTION

,.
.
The propagation environment impacts the performance of
radio communication syster_ns. Multipath propagation in microcellular environments can resul,t in path loss and delay spread, causing
an increase in the bit error r~te of digital transmission while adding
to interference levels in neighboring cells. Thus, accurate knowledge of path loss and channel time dispersion is necessary for system design. When meas\)red data are unavailable, designers
typically rely on statisical models [14] to predict the path loss and
delay spread incurred oveJZ' urban mobile radio channels. Recent
work [2], however, has shown that urban microcellular channels are
dissimilar to conventionallprge coverage area, high power cellular
channels.
.:
Numerous researcher~ have applied theoretical methods for
simulating [7 ,8] and predicting [6,15,10] multipath propagation in
urban cellular and microcelluar channels. In [6,15], geometri~al
optics and knife-edge diffraction theory is employed to predict
average signal strength in urban mobile radio environments. These
models assume the base-to;-,mobile propagation path is blocked by
rows of buildings, resulting in diffraction over building rooftops
being the principal propagtfon mechanism. Although this classification of the environment such as this may be acceptable for urban
cellular channels where the mobile is heavily shadowed by the surrounding buildings, it is not a true representation of microcellular
channels in general. With the base station antenna well below the
building skyline, diffraction over building rooftops is unlikely. Furthermore, line-of-sight paths frequently occur in microcellular environments.
Narrow band fading in line-of-sight micro cell channels is studied in [ 10]. The fading in these channels is attributed to interference

This work is supported by the MPRG Industrial Affiliates program and

DARPAESTO.

of direct and ground reflected fields and, in urban areas, by reflected

fields from the building-lined street. Although the model proposed
in [10] accurately predicts the location and severity of narrow band
fading, no attempt is made to quantify the time dispersion of the
channel or to examine shadowing in obstructed channels (e.g.,
around corners), or propagation into buildings. Emerging personal
communication services (PCS) using microcells, require delay
spread data to estimate bit error rate in frequency selective channels
at data rates of 48.6 kbps and above. Additionally, PCS systems are
not likely to be implemented in line-of-sight channels alone, so
.accurate path loss data is required for different channels and user
scenarios in order to plan spectrum sharing and base station installations.
For a prediction method to be applicable in a variety of channels, it should integrate site-specific data into the propagation
model. Thus, a theoretical method for determining channel parameters for an urban microcell, using quantitative measures of the environment, is examined in this paper. The proposed technique uses a
modified geometrical optics model and a building database to predict average path loss and delay statistics in urban microcells. This
paper discusses the propagation model and the associated computer
implementation, the building database structure, and the building
data requirements. Also a propagation model used to predict average path loss and delay spread is proposed. Computer ray tracing
techniques are pres~nted. Finally, preliminary results are discussed.

2. BUILDING DATABASE
In a static microcellular channel, the received signal is .composed of energy which has been reflected, transmitted, or scattered
by buildings. Additional scatterers such as trees and lamp posts also
contribute to the received signal, but these are mostly secondary
effects and as such these scatterers can be neglected. Thus, the data
required for a propagation model would consist of the geometrical
and the electrical characteristics of buildings.
A building database structure is constructed to facilitate starago of the required building data. The buildings in the database are
modeled as convex polygons comprised of individual planar panels.
A convex polygon has the property that a line connecting any two
points in the polygon is itself contained within the polygon. A planiform environment is assumed where terrain is flat and buildings
have an effective height above the terrain level. This assumption is
valid in most cases due to the small geographic areas required for
analysis. Exact building height is used when available, otherwise
the building is assigned a height according to 4.2N (meters) where
N is the number of floors in the building. Reflection and transmission losses, according to the building material or user specification,
are designated for each building in the database.
AutoCADTM is used as the building database manager and as
the graphical interface for the prediction tool. This program was
selected because it is considered an industry standard CAD package, and it is belived that building data. may be readily available
from city planners and architects in an AutoCAD format. AutoCAD

IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference 1992, Denver Co.

supports a standard drawing exchange format allowing data to be

exported in ASCll. This exchange format is used to export the
building database directly from AutoCAD to the propagation prediction tool. Using special macro commands developed for extruding three dimensional objects from two dimensional maps, a
building database can be constructed and exported to the prediction
tool in a straightforward manner.

these reasons, the diffuse component is included in this model.

3. PROPAGATION MODEL
Although propagation in urban microcells is a complicated
process, a few simplifying observations can be made. It is well
known that a narrow band signal is comprised of both fast and slow
fading components. The fast fading is attributed to the interaction
of the multipath components and is influenced by the small scale
features of the environment (e.g., small motion in the channel or
from building surface irregularities). On the other hand, slow fading
is attributed to large scale environmental factors, such as building
location and geometry. If the fast fading is neglected, then t6e average path loss can be determined by geometrical considerations
using a ray optics model [6]. Wide band signals (RF bandwidth
greater than 1 MHz), however, do not exhibit the same fast fading
characteristics due to the inherent frequency diversity within the
signal. Given that temporal fading can be neglected, it is assumed
here that large scale building geometry will dominate the average
path loss of wide band signals as well. Furthermore, the time dispersion of a wide band channel is due to the location and orientation
of the scatterers, and can easily be determined with a geometrical
optics model. Hence, geometrical optics is a viable technique for
predicting both wide band and narrow band channel characteristics.
The principal propagation model uses geometrical optics to trace
the propagation of direct, reflected, transmitted and scattered fields.
The rays, which represent a local plane wave of the total field, originate from point sources and propagate in three dimensional space.
The pr!:m~~!!t!0!! r\f "'!""'rey frnm thA trAnsmitter to the receiver
occurs hu VG!rim.m modos such B-S by c~hec~, reflectcd 9 tn~_nsrnitted,
and diffusely scattered paths. In considering these modes for the
propagation model, it is important to recognize the path loss dependence of each mode. Direct (line-of-sight) rays exhibit a l/d2 power
dependence according to Friis' free space transmission. In addition
to direct rays, specularly reflected or transmitted rays follow a l/d2
dependence, where d represents the total ray path length. For example, the specularly reflected ray shown in Figure 1, whose path segments are labeled r 1 and r2, has a path loss proportional to l/(r 1 +
r 2)2. Alternatively, the diffusely scattered field, comprised of the
path segments s 1 and s2, exhibits a multiplicative dependence given
by l/(s 1s2 The multiplicative dependence is due to the additional
spreading loss the ray experiences after scattering.
The diffuse component is commonly neglected in propagation
models because its magnitude decreases more rapidly with distance
than the specular component. In computing average path loss, this
is generally a valid assumption; the specular component contains a
greater portion of the total enorgy and thus contributes more to an
average taken over space in a local area of the receiver (local average). However, the diffuse component will be relatively strong and
will influence the local average at locations close to the scattering
point (i.e., when s2 is small). This accounts for buildings in a local
area of the receiving point which may have a significant quantity of
incident energy but do not satisfy the geometric requirements to
specularly reflect this energy toward the receiver. In [12], it is
shown that strong scatterers of this nature can exist and can have a
significant impact on the channel parameters. Additionally, neglecting diffusely scattered multipath components strictly on an energy
basis is unjustified. Scattered rays, although weak, can have long
time delays which would influence the channel time dispersion. For

Tx
Figure 1: Physical propagation model. The reflected ray Is shown by
path segments r 1 and r 2 and diffusely scattered ray Is shown by path
segments s1 and sz.

The results in [3] reveal building penetration loss is a func~ion

of the distance the signal travels within the building and, in most
cases, is quite large. Although, it is unlikely that the propagation of
rays through buildings will have significant influence on the chan. nel parameters, these rays are still included because the propagation
of signals into (or from) the interior of buildings is important in the
analysis of future PCS systems that will include indoor and outdoor
cells. Including transmitted rays is the first step in implementing a
comprehensive, indoor-outdoor propagation model.
In summary, the model includes direct, reflected, transmitted,
and scattered fields represented by the rays. Each propagation
mechanism is treated separately, and the total field is determined
via superposition of the individual contributions of each ray. The
field amplitude of the ith ray at the receiver is given by
-

E;

~~

JlJll (Uki;
""=?

E 0 GtiGr;L;(d)Ls('Y;) JlJll'(~ji)
.
j
k

--

\li

Ou and Ori are the field amplitude radiation patterns of the

transmitting and receiving antennas; Li (d) is the path loss for the ith
component with path length d; and Ls('V;) is the loss applied to scattered rays. A cos 'V.1 scattering pattern, where 'V; is the angle that
the ith scattered ray makes with the specular direction, is assumed
as an approximation to the true scattering pattern. A building radar
cross section can also be used [12]? depending upon the desired
modeling approach. A normalization constant is also applied to Ls
Unlike specular rays, scattered rays are not unique and must be nor.malized by the number of rays originating from the source to maintain conservation of energy. The mean field strength, En, is the sum
of the magnitudes of the individual multipath components as given
by

En=

ftif

(2)

Path loss is computed by referencing the result of (2) to a 1meter free space level. Wideband channel parameters are computed
. by applying methods outlined in [9].
In (1), the reflection, r(aj;), and transmission, r(eki), coefficients for the ith ray are functions of the ray's incidence angle, e.
This is to illustrate the angular dependence of these losses which
are given by the Fresnel formulas. Although the Fresnel formulations are a more exact method for evaluating the loss, there is little
published data concerning the dielectric properties of common
building materials and complex structures. A more detailed study is
called for if Fresnel formulas are to be used effectively. Currently, a
6 dB reflection loss [6] and a 12 dB transmission loss [3] is

assumed, regardless of incident angle or building material. As more

detailed information on the dielectric properties of buildings
becomes available, the Fresnel formulations could be added for
additional accuracy.

4. COMPUTER RAY TRACING

A computer program has been written to implement the model
as an automated propagation prediction tool. The program uses
"brute force" ray tracing to account for all possible propagation
paths. Brute force ray tracing is commonly used for computer
image rendering and for computer animation [4]. Brute force ray
tracing is used instead of electomagnetic image theory so various
channel geometries can be considered. Image theory is cumbersome when randomly oriented objects or multiple reflections are
considered. As computation times increase, ray tracing acceleration
techniques are employed to combat the computational requirements
of brute force ray tracing [4].
The code is written in C++ for use on a UNIX-based Sun
SparcStation 2 [13]. As an object-oriented language, C++ has the
capability to manipulate vectors, objects, and the functions that
match them, in a modular fashion. Due to the numerous ray-object
intersection tests and extensive data arrays required for ray tracing,
there are considerable requirements on the computer operating platform. Although object bounding volumes are used to reduce the
number of intersection tests and intermediate data is disposed of as
soon as possible, the computation and memory requirements still
make a workstation necessary at a minimum.
The computer program uses ray tracing to find each ray path
by which significant levels of energy radiated from the transmitting
location reaches the receiving point. Multiple receiving locations
can be defined, so the procedure described here can be applied to
each receiving point. The ray tracing is accomplished by an exhaustive search of a ray tree accounting for the decomposition of the ray
at each planar intersection. After the direct path has been checked,
the program traces a ray from the source in a predetermined direction and detects if an object intersection occurs. If no intersection is
found, the process stops and a new source ray is initiated. Once the
program determines that an intersection has occurred, it then checks
to see if a reflected or transmitted ray has an unobstructed path to
one of the receiving locations. If both of these rays are blocked, the
program proceeds to determine if a scattered ray has &n unobstructed path to one of the receiving locations. After checking for
reception, the program divides the source ray into a transmitted and
reflected ray, which are then treated in a similar fashion to the
source ray. This recursion continues until a maximum m1mber of
tree levels is exceeded, the ray energy falls below a specified
threshold, or no further intersection occurs.
Note that scattered rays are not traced recursively. Each intersection can produce N (where N is large) scattered rays. However,
only the scattered ray passing directly through a receiving point is
considered. This is justified by recognizing that the amplitude of
these rays decreases rapidly with .distance; multiple scattering of a
ray will not contribute significantly to the received power and thus
is not considered.
The test to determine if a reflected or transmitted ray reaches a
receiving point is accomplished in the following fashion. A perpendicular projection from the receiving location to the ray path is
computed and the total (unfolded) path length, d, that the ray travels
from the transmitter to the projection point is determined. A recep
tion sphere (from [5], extended to three dimensions) is constructed
about the receiving location having a radius of a.d/,.fi where a. is
the angular spacing between neighboring rays at the source. If the
ray intersects the sphere, it is received and contributes to the total
received signal. Otherwise, the ray is not received and the recursion

proceeds as previously described. The reception sphere effectively

accounts for the divergence of the rays from the source. For a. sufficiently small (typically a. S: 1 ), the sphere's radius will be on the
order of 1 meter, so the ray intercepting the sphere will be an accurate measure of the ray that would pass directly through the receiving point.
The reception sphere is employed to maintain the uniqueness
of the specular point, thereby ensuring a correct number of specular
rays are received. The physical interpretation of the reception
sphere can be justified with the aid of Figure 2. This figure is a two
dimensional representation of a ray being traced. 1\vo adjacent
rays, launched at a. relative to the test ray, are also shown. Note
that in three dimensions, any ray will have more than two adjacent
rays and the angular separation of the adjacent rays will not necessarily coincide with the coordinate axes. Assuming straight ray
paths, we will later justify that the reception sphere must have a
As shown in the figure, a reception sphere with this
radius ad/
radius can receive only one of the rays. If the radius is greater than
ad/ ,.fi, two of the rays could be received and would, in effect,
count the same specular ray path twice. Likewise, if the radius !s
too small, none of the rays will intercept the sphere and the specul~r
energy will be excluded. It is important to note that the reception
sphere radius is proportional to the unfolded path length from the
source to receiver.

J3.

Undersized receplion sphere

Oversized reception sphere

Figure 2: '1\vo dl mensional view of the reception sphere. Th,e.. total ruy
path length is d producing a reception sphere radius of a.d/ t>/3.

In view of the previous ~iscussion, for the reception sphere ~o

be valid in three dimensions the rays must be launched such that
each ray is separated from neighboring rays by a constant angle, a.
If uniform separation is not maintained, the test ray will not be se,:.)arated from adjacent rays by a constant angle (and linear distance)
and the reception sphere loses its physical significance. Additiolally, constant ray separation insures that each ray represents an
equal, regularly shaped portion of the spherical wavefro1,t.
Although constant angular separation of the rays may be easy r.o
conceptualize, the mechanics of the problem are rather complicated. Common methods of sub-dividing the total wavefront, su~:h
as by using spherical coordinates, are insufficient. This is due to a
decrease in the linear distance between the rays as they are
launched in directions near the poles of the sphere. Instead, the
spherical surface is approximated by a geodesic polyhedron and the
rays are launched along the face normals and edge vertices of the
polyhedron. Each face of the polyhedron can be subdivided to produce a desired angular resolution. As the frequency of subdivison
increases, the accuracy of approximating the sphere by a geodesic
dome improves, while uniform angular separation of the rays is
maintained. The beam solid angle subtended by a ray is a hexagonal-shaped, incremental portion of the spherical wavefront that ray
represents. Approximating the ray wavefront by circular areas pro-

jected onto the surface of the sphere, the linear distance between
rays is most nearly 2ad/
and so the sphere radius is ad/
For each received ray, the excess delay, path loss, departure
angles from the transmitter, and the arrival angles at the receiver are
written to file. Currently, there are no polarization specific operations in the ray tracing, so antenna patterns can be superimposed in
the post processing. In this way, any number of antenna patterns can
be tested using the same raw data file.

J3

J3.

4, further justifies this claim. These parameters are representative of

measured data as found in [1].

' .:~!

~ ~20

-30

'

t~~'~~ll~l
0.0

0.2..

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

Delay (JJ,s)

Ftgure 3: Simulated channel delay proflle.

The results of the model can be clearly s~n in Figure 3. The

direct ray and thr{'..e single-hop reflections fr9m the ground and
either side of the street arrive with delays group.ed near 0.57 J.Ls. The
individual delay of these rays are difficult to discern in the figure
due to the relatively short delays between the direct and single
reflection paths. Multiple-hop reflections are grouped about 0.67,
0.88 and 0.91 J.LS where increasing delay corrt(sponds to a greater
number of reflections for the ray.
:;
The impact of the scattered rays can be clearly seen by comparing Figures 3 and 4, where it can be seen that these rays create a
continuous profile. Relatively strong scatter components appear in
the profile at delays of approximately 1.3 J.Ls and 1.6 J.Ls. These scattered components are due to large buildings at either end of the
street that scatterer energy back to the receiver. The presence of
these scatterers results in the appearance of a more realistic representation of the true delay profile than could be achieved with a
purely specular approximation to the channel. Representative channel parameters (rms delay spread of 127.8 ns and average path loss
of 44.2 dB w.r.t. 1-meter FSPL), calculated for the profile in Figure

-10

-30
-40

]
.....

-50
-60

-20

S.RESULTS
A preliminary study was conducted to assess the validity of a
geometrical ray optics model in microcellular environments [11].
For the study, narrow band (CW) measurements were made on the
Virginia Tech campus at 914 MHz. Average path loss values were
computed at 20A. intervals by applying (2) where primary, single
hop, rays were considered. Predicted path loss values were generally within 5 dB of the measured path loss. The worst case predic
tion error was 17 dB and was observed at only one location.
Figures 3 and 4 show a sample wideband profile generated by
the program. These results were generated for a building-lined
street with additional buildings (scatterers) randomly located on
neighboring block$. Both the base station and reiver are located 2
meters from the buildings lining the street and pave a line-of-sight
separation of 170 meters. The street is 30 meters wide. The base
station antenna is at a height of 10 meters and the receiver is at 1.7
meters, both measured relative to street level. In Figure 3, the predicted channel impulse response is shown. The corresponding delay
profile, where a 50 ns base-width Gaussian-shaped pulse was convolved with the impulse response, is shown in ~igure 4.

10

1
~

-70

-80
-90

~ -100~------~--~--~--~~~~~~
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Delay (JJ,s)
Figure 4: Simulated channel Impulse response.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge Scott Seidel for his help
in developing the ray launching algorithm.

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