Summary of Wave Propagation Models for Rural/Suburban Scenarios

A summary of the rural/suburban wave propagation models in tabular format.

Table 1. Summary of the supported rural/suburban wave propagation empirical models in WinProp.
Model	Okumura-Hata with optional Hata Extension	Empirical Two Ray (ETR)	ITU P.1546
Type	Empirical	Empirical	Empirical
Valid for	Frequency: 30 MHz to 3 GHz h_tx: 30 m to 200 m h_rx: 1 m to 10 m d: 0.1 km to 40 km	Frequency > 30 MHz h_tx: no limit (terrestrial) h_rx: no limit (terrestrial) d: no fixed limit	Frequency: 30 MHz to 4 GHz h_tx < 3000 m h_rx: 1 m to 20 m d: 0.1 km to 1000 km
Accuracy	Reasonable accuracy	Reasonable accuracy	Reasonable accuracy
Computation Time	Very short	Very short	Very short
Preprocessing of Database	No	No	No
Problem Type & Size	Radio coverage simulation for various area types rural/suburban/urban etc.	Radio coverage simulation to compute average pathloss / signal level	Method for point-to-area predictions for terrestrial services. It is intended for the use of tropospheric radio circuits over land, water, or mixed land-water paths.
Considers	Considers only the transmitter and receiver heights plus optional clutter map with individual properties (losses/heights) per clutter class	Model considers the transmitter and receiver heights and includes multipath propagation into account	Model considers the transmitter and receiver heights, corrections for the time & location variability and for mixed land/sea paths
Limitations	Model does not consider the terrain profile. If a hill is located between the transmitter and receiver, use knife-edge diffraction to include the shadowing effect.	Computes the path loss based on the assumption that the direct ray and the ground-reflected ray would exist using the defined propagation exponents. Model does not consider the terrain profile. If a hill is located between the transmitter and receiver, use knife-edge diffraction to include the shadowing effect.	The model does not consider the terrain profile. If a hill is located between the transmitter and receiver, use knife-edge diffraction to include the shadowing effect.

Table 2. Summary of the supported rural/suburban wave 2D vertical plane propagation models in WinProp.
Model	Deterministic Two Ray (DTR)	Longley-Rice or Irregular Terrain Model (ITM)	Parabolic Equation (PE)
Type	2D vertical plane model	2D vertical plane model	Full wave approach in 2D vertical plane
Valid for	Frequency > 30 MHz Frequency > 30 MHz h_rx: no fixed limit (terrestrial) d: no fixed limit	Frequency: 20 MHz to 40 GHz Path lengths: 1 km to 2000 km	Frequency > 30 MHz h_tx: no fixed limit (terrestrial) h_rx: no fixed limit (terrestrial) d: no limit
Accuracy	Good accuracy	Reasonable accuracy	High accuracy
Computation Time	Short	Short	Long
Preprocessing of Database	No	No	No
Problem Type & Size	Radio coverage simulation when the superposition of the direct and the ground-reflected ray is dominating	Radio coverage simulation for larger areas, e.g. frequency planning; mainly in television broadcasting	Radio coverage simulation over terrain (often used for aerospace & defense)
Considers	Model computes the direct ray and the ground-reflected ray using ray optical algorithms and performs either coherent or power superposition of these two rays	Model considers the transmitter and receiver heights. The Point-to-Point mode takes into account the terrain elevation profile between the transmitter and receiver. The Area Mode estimates the terrain profile using empirical medians.	Considers the propagation over terrain, forward-scattering and the properties of the ground. Optional consideration of a predefined height depending permittivity.
Limitations	Model does not consider the terrain profile. If a hill is located between the transmitter and receiver, use knife-edge diffraction to include the shadowing effect.	Model considers the ground properties and the defined percentages for time & location variability	The results of the PE are valid up to a certain propagation angle in respect to the horizon lies within -40° up to +40° for the Wide Angle Parabolic Equation (WAPE). Backward-orientated effects (such as reflections at the opposite hillside) are not considered.

Table 3. Summary of the supported rural/suburban wave deterministic propagation models in WinProp.
Model	Rural 3D Dominant Path Model (DPM)	Rural Ray-Tracing (RRT)	3D Ray Launching
Type	Deterministic	Deterministic in 2D vertical plane	Deterministic
Valid for	Frequency: 30 MHz to 100 GHz h_tx: no fixed limit (terrestrial) h_rX: no fixed limit (terrestrial) d: no fixed limit	Frequency: 30 MHz to 100 GHz h_tx: no fixed limit (terrestrial) h_rX: no fixed limit (terrestrial) d: no fixed limit	Frequency: 30 MHz to 100 GHz h_tx: no fixed limit (terrestrial) h_rX: no fixed limit (terrestrial) d: no fixed limit
Accuracy	Good accuracy	Good accuracy	High accuracy
Computation Time	Short	Medium	Long
Preprocessing of Database	No	The topography data (in pixel format) must be converted to 3D vector data format	No
Problem Type & Size	Radio coverage simulation for large areas to compute average pathloss/signal level	Radio coverage simulation for large areas where the multipath situation is relevant	Radio coverage simulation for individual points (radio links or radar sensors) or LOS areas
Considers	The dominant propagation path is computed by using a full 3D approach plus optional clutter map with individual properties (losses/heights) per clutter class.	The model computes various rays including reflections and diffractions in the vertical plane. Optionally 3D scattering from topography or 3D interaction at additional 3D vector objects can be enabled.	The model considers reflections and scattering in 3D.
Limitations	The ground-reflected path as well as multipath effects are not considered	The model takes a limited number of interactions into account and may not reach all prediction points by itself. Activate the additional knife edge diffraction to predict propagation results for remaining locations.	No combination with multiple knife edge diffraction possible. The diffraction at topo obstacles is not yet supported, which limits the use of the model to the LOS area.