WIZARD Technical Support

321-722-1099
wizard.support@optimi.com

WIZARD FACTS

Introduction
The TEC CELLULAR Building Database will be used as input data for specialized propagation
models that predict RF signal levels in urban environments. This document describes the Building
Database Format.

This replaces the document, “TEC CELLULAR ASCII Format for Building Data”, Issue 3, dated 19
March 1994.
Objectives
The format of the building database is designed to meet these goals:

1. Must provide the building data necessary and sufficient for practical microcell propagation
models,

2. Must allow a representation that permits the propagation model to traverse only the necessary
portions of the building database to minimize execution time,

3. Must be easy to read across different hardware and software platforms, and

4. Must be convertible into other formats (such as MapInfo) for display and analysis purposes.
The Building Database Format
The Data Format
REGION region_name region_id# lonw latn lone lats
#BUILDINGS number_of buildings
BUILDING building_name ground_elev rooftop_elev
#VERTICES number_of_vertices
lon lat
lon lat
lon lat
... (for lon and lat)
BUILDING id ground_elev rooftop_elev
#VERTICES number_of_vertices
lon lat
lon lat
lon lat
... (for lon and lat)
... (for buildings)
ENDREGION region_name

Description of Format Items

General
• The items in UPPER CASE are KEYWORDS
• Items in lower case italics are data
• Data items on each line separated by white space (blank spaces or tabs)

03/30/2011
 WIZARD Technical Support
321-722-1099
wizard.support@optimi.com

Region Data
• region_name - string, max 40 characters, no embedded white space, unique for a project. The
keyword REGION, starts a region area and the keyword ENDREGION, terminates a region area.
The region_name following the ENDREGION keyword should be the same as the region_name
following the last REGION keyword.
• region_id# - integer id for the region
• lonw, latn, lone, lats - floating point numbers representing the west, north, east, and south bounds
of the region
• number_of_buildings - the number of buildings in the region

Building Data
• building_name - string, max 40 characters, no embedded white space, unique within the region.
Integers assigned sequentially may be used for the building_name.
• ground_elevation - an elevation for the base of the building in Feet Above Mean Sea Level (Ft.
AMSL, floating point number)
• rooftop_elevation - an elevation for the rooftop of the building in Feet Above Mean Sea Level (Ft.
AMSL, floating point number).
• number_of_vertices - the number of vertices for the polygon that defines the roofprint of the
building
• lon, lat of vertices - the longitude and latitude of the building vertices, in order, defining a simple
polygon (no crossed line segments)

Sign Conventions for Latitude and Longitude Values

Latitude (North/South)
North of the Equator +
South of the Equator -

Longitude (East/West)
East of the Prime Meridian +
West of the Prime Meridian -

03/30/2011
 WIZARD Technical Support
321-722-1099
wizard.support@optimi.com

Other Considerations

• This situation can be represented by two buildings, a shorter one with a larger roofprint and a taller
one with the smaller roofprint.

• Regions can overlap.

Building 2

Building 1
Building 4

Building 3

Region 1 Region 2

• A single building must be totally within the bounds of a Region.

• A single building must be in only one region.

03/30/2011
 WIZARD Technical Support
321-722-1099
wizard.support@optimi.com
• Each polygon must be complete. If polygon vertices are shared, they must be listed with each
polygon. An example is shown below.

w Polygon 1 x

E F
B
A

C D
Polygon 2
z y

Vertices A, B, C, D, E, and F must be part of each polygon.

Polygon 1 = wxFEDCBA
Polygon 2 = ABCDEFyz

Sample File

REGION Region1 1 ­84.00 42.00 ­83.00 41.00
#BUILDINGS 2
BUILDING 1 150 200
#VERTICES 4
­83.1 41.8
­83.1 41.7
­83.2 41.7
­83.2 41.8
BUILDING 2 160 300
#VERTICES 3
­83.4 41.8
­83.5 41.8
­83.45 41.7
ENDREGION Region1

REGION Downtown 2 ­85.00 43.00 ­84.00 41.452
#BUILDINGS 1
BUILDING 1 150 200
#VERTICES 3
­84.4 42.6
­84.5 42.6
­84.45 42.7
ENDREGION Downtown

03/30/2011