Simulating radio channel statistics for different building environments

The design of advanced radio systems requires knowledge of higher order channel statistics, such as the time delay spread and the angle of arrival spread. Time delay has been measured in a number of cities, while angle of arrival has been measured in only a few. Since link geometry is not the same for all measurements, it is not clear how to compare the measured values, or if they are applicable to other building environments, antenna height, etc. To clarify these issues, we have used a three-dimensional ray tracing code, called the vertical plane launch (VPL) method, to simulate time delay spread and angle of arrival spread in different building environments. Results for elevated base station antennas show that the distribution of root mean square (rms) delay spreads is not sensitive to the statistical properties of the buildings but increases with distance to the mobiles and increases as the base antenna is lowered below the rooftops. In contrast, the distribution of rms angle spread is sensitive to the distribution of building heights and to the height of the base station antenna but not to the distance to the mobile. The influence of street geometry on delay and angle spread for low base station antennas is also discussed.