Microcell prediction by street and terrain data

An accurate microcell prediction model needs to consider the effects of terrain contour and building factors on urban microcell radio propagation. An inexpensive and accurate way of executing this prediction is to utilize readily accessible street and terrain data as proposed in this paper. Various comparisons were done within the San Francisco Bay Area proving that the model calculations for the combination of attenuation from building and gain or loss from terrain (diffraction loss and effective antenna gains) encountered in the path of the mobile are fairly accurate. The street data utilized can be employed as either the base for creating the building database, or as a method of fine-tuning to improve the accuracy of the microcell model.