CSE 4215 / 5431 Lab Manual: Part I

Microcell Indoor / Outdoor Studies using EDX SignalPro

Copyright by N. Vlajic

Overview of EDX Wireless

EDX Wireless software products are a collection of commercial modeling and design tools for wireless communication systems that run under Windows 98/2000/NT/XP. With EDX Wireless it is possible to predict service areas and path performance using advanced propagation models that account for terrain and groundcover features. It is also possible to model the behavior of radio signals in and around the buildings in urban settings. As such, the software is suitable for modeling/design/analysis of either of the following wireless systems: Wireless LAN; Cellular; Paging; Broadcast; Multicast, etc. For more see: http://www.edx.com/

Lab Objectives
The objectives of this lab include: reinforce the concepts of radio signal propagation; investigate the effects of propagation environment (i.e. landscape) on the performance of single-cell indoor and outdoor radio systems; introduce ray tracing as a design tool for analyzing of radio networks; expose students to a commercial software tool for planning of single-cell and multi-cellular systems.

Lab Location and Equipment

EDX Wireless V5.3.2 evaluation software is available in CSEB 2052 Lab, on machines: homnet01, homnet02, and homnet03. Use the following to log onto these machines: Username: 4215lab. Password: 4215lab.

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1.1

Microcell Outdoor Study

Study Setup

EDX software can be launched by using the following menu path: Start Programs EDX SignalPro 5.3 Evaluation This lab is based on the EDX demo map of a square block area in downtown Eugene (Oregon) - Eugene_new.mcs, as provided in the evaluation version of the software. To do the study, follow these steps: 1. Go to the File menu and select OpenProject. 2. In the folder tree, under EDX Projects Sample_Projects select a project called Mim_outdoor_demo, and press OK button. 3. On the opening map you will see a square study area. 4. Click on the Map Map Layers, and using the Move Up button place buildings layer at the top of the list, followed by transmitter/base/hub sites layer. (See Figure 1.) Press OK button. When you return to the map display, the building outlines should appear.

Figure 1 Reordering of Map Layers

5.

Go to Basic Studies / Propagation Models. Under Model type, select the COST-231 Walfisch-Ikegami propagation model. Also check the use building data checkbox. Press OK. More information on the Walfisch-Ikegami propagation model can be found in

the EDX Microcell/Indoor Module Reference Manual (pp. 38). This manual can be accessed from the EDX Help menu. Once you have familiarized yourself with the Walfisch-Ikegami propagation model, answer the following questions by filling in the blanks: Parameters appearing in Walfisch-Ikegami propagation model Applicable frequency range (f) Range of base station antenna heights (Hb) Range of mobile unit antenna heights (Hm) Distance from base transmitter to mobile Value 800 2000 MHz

Also, in the lines below, write the basic form of Walfisch-Ikegami path-loss equation, and provide full names for each of the three individual loss components appearing in the expression.

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

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8. 9.

Go to Basic Studies / Define study grid and set the grid center point coordinates to 44 degrees, 3 minutes, 0 seconds north latitude, 123 degrees, 5 minutes, 30 seconds west longitude. This point is approximately in the center of the building grid you have displayed. On the Basic Studies / Define study grid dialog box, set the grid height and grid width to 0.5 [km] (500 meters), and the grid point spacing to 0.003 [km] (3 meters). Make sure the Auto grid checkbox is unchecked. Go to the Basic Studies / Area studies dialog box, and select Received power at remote as the study type. Go to Map / Map Layers. Select Received Power at remote, and then click on Style . Under Study display type, chose composite grid as the plot type. Next, click on the Set signal / color levels button, and set 6 signal levels to the following values: -75, -85, -95, -105 and -115 [dBm]. Also, set the respective colors as shown in the figure below.

Figure 2 Setup of area study received-power legend

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Go to the RF Systems / Mobile / Remote Unit dialog box and set the receive antenna height to 1.8 meters above ground. This is the value typically used for a standing adult on the street with a handset by his head. Finally, position a transmitter on your street grid by clicking on the New Transmitter Button. The cursor will change appearance. Use the mouse to position the transmitter at, or somewhere near, the following coordinates: latitude 44-02-58-82, longitude 123-05-29-46. (See figures below.) Choose the Single Sector tx template

Figure 3 Positioning of transmitter near the center of the street grid

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Right click on the cross that marks the location of your transmitter and select Site Properties A dialog box will appear where you can set the parameters for your transmitter. Set Frequency to 1900 MHz. Next, go to Transmit Parameters dialog box and set the transmit antenna height above ground level (AGL) to 6 meters and the Total ERPi to -10 dBW. These are the typical setup parameters for a lamppost-mounted antenna. Click on the Area Study button.

Figure 4 Area Study button

The program will perform a pathloss calculation for each grid point spaced every 3 meters using the COST-231 Walfisch-Ikegami path loss model. Depending on the speed of your machine, this may take from 30 seconds up to a few minutes. When finished you will see a map similar to what is shown below.

Figure 5 Area Study received power levels

1.2

Analysis of Obtained Results

1.2.1 Question 1
Observe the location of points A, B and C in Figure 5. What are the received power levels for the three points? (Hint: look at Figure 2.)

Received power at point A (Study 1): ________________________________ Received power at point B (Study 1): ________________________________ Received power at point C (Study 1): ________________________________
How do you explain the difference between the power levels at points A and B, given that they happen to be at the same physical distance from the transmitter. (Hint: check Map / Floorplan Data / Set color levels ) Write your answer below.

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

1.2.2 Question 2
Repeat the study described in Section 1.1, but this time set the transmit antenna height above ground level (AGL) to 30 meters. Submit together with this report your map of the received power levels for this particular scenario! On the obtained map, observe the received power levels at point C.

Received power at point C (Study 2): ________________________________

How do you explain the difference between the power levels at points C in the case of Study 1 and in the case of Study 2. Write your answer below.

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

1.2.3 Question 3
Repeat the study described in Section 1.1, but this time change the operating frequency of the transmitter to 800 MHz. (See Step 12 in Section 1.1). Make sure you have set the height of the transmitter antenna back to 6 m. Submit together with this report your map of the received power levels for this particular scenario! Which changes do you observe in the obtained map? Explain!

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

1.2.4 Question 4
Repeat the study described in Section 1.1, but this time change the gain of the Mobile/Remote Unit to 2.14 dBi. Make sure you have set all other parameters (back) as specified in Section 1.1. Submit together with this report your map of the received power levels for this particular scenario!

Which changes do you observe in the obtained map now? Explain!

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Also, do some independent research on the unit used to define the gain of the receiving antenna - [dBi]. What does this unit represent? How is it calculated?

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

What are the typical gain values, in [dBi], for the following antennas:

Antenna type Half-wave dipole Yagi Parabolic dish

Gain [dBi]

1.3

2D Ray-Tracing Model

The earlier studies used the COST-231 Walfisch-Ikegami model to predict the signal levels for the microcell transmitter. As explained in class, any theoretical model (including Walfisch-Ikegami) allows the wireless network designer to obtain a fairly rapid first look at signal levels. However, if these simplified models do not provide information that is accurate enough, and/or does not fully match the in-field measurements, the designer can move on to ray-tracing models. It is always best to begin with the 2D ray-tracing models if the antenna heights are generally below the surrounding rooftops. To conduct a 2D ray-tracing model for the network described in Section 1.1, do the following: 1. Go to the Basic Studies / Propagation models menu and select 2D raytracing. 2. Click on the Supplemental model parameters button to select the parameters which will control how your ray-tracing study is done. 3. Set: N. of reflection generations to 1; No. of diffraction corner generations to 1; Spatial average distance to 5.0 wavelengths; Study radius to 1000 meters; Ray-amplitude threshold to -150 dBm. Leave other boxes unchecked! 4. Click on the Area Study button. (Note, 2D Ray-Tracing is much more computationally intense than the studies of Sections 1. and 2. Hence, you might have to wait up to 5 minutes to the obtaining the requested result.) Submit together with this report your map of the received power levels based on 2D Ray-Tracing Model! It is instructive to see how much more detailed the 2D Ray-Tracing power level map is, compared to the earlier Walfisch-Ikegami power level map. The improved precision offered by ray-tracing is clear, but it comes at the price of greatly increased computation time!

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