Summary of Wave Propagation Models for Urban Scenarios

A summary of the urban wave propagation models in tabular format.

Table 1. Summary of the supported urban wave propagation models in WinProp.
Model	Urban 3D Dominant Path (DPM)	Urban 3D Intelligent Ray Tracing (IRT)	ITU-R P.1411	COST 231 Walfisch-Ikegami
Type	Semi-deterministic	Deterministic	Empirical	Empirical
Valid for	Frequency: 30 MHz to 100 GHz h_tx: no fixed limit h_rx: no fixed limit d: no fixed limit	Frequency: 30 MHz to 100 GHz h_tx: no fixed limit h_rx: no fixed limit d: no fixed limit	Frequency: 300 MHz to 100 GHz Short-range propagation over distances up to 1 km	Frequency: 800 MHz to 2000 MHz h_tx: 4 m to 5 m h_rX: 1 m to 3 m d: 20 m to 5000 m
Accuracy	High accuracy	High accuracy	Good accuracy	Good accuracy when transmitters are above medium rooftop level. Reduced accuracy when transmitters are below medium rooftop level.
Computation Time	Short	Typically minutes after preprocessing for IRT	Very short	Very short
Preprocessing of Database	Not required	Yes	Not required	Not required
Problem Type & Size	Radio coverage simulation for very large urban areas	Radio channel incl. multipath and radio coverage simulation for large urban areas	Radio coverage simulation for urban areas < 1 km distance	Radio coverage simulation for urban areas < 5 km distance
Considers	3D map of buildings, vegetation and topography Pathloss exponents and breakpoint effect Wave-guiding effect Suited also for hilly terrain Optional calibration with measurements	3D map of buildings, vegetation and topography Pathloss exponents and breakpoint effect Multipath propagation incl. reflections and diffractions Optional calibration with measurements	Depending on the sub-model, it considers: LOS/NLOS regions Propagation geometry (site-specific, site-general) Propagation situation/sub-model (over rooftops, within street canyons, near street level) Propagation environment (urban very high rise, urban/urban high rise, suburban/urban low rise, residential) Traffic (high, low)	Height of transmitter Height of receiver Mean value of building heights Mean value of widths of roads Mean value of building separation Road orientation with respect to the direct radio path
Limitations	Model does not compute the complete channel impulse response	Requires post-processing with knife-edge diffraction model for hilly terrain	Hilly areas are not considered	No multipath Only considers propagation in vertical plane that contains the transmitter and receiver. Does not consider wave-guiding effects in street canyons Not recommended for hilly terrain

Note:

It is not recommended to use the Dominant Path Model (DPM) for the point mode since it may result in accurate results if the points are located far from the prediction height.

Using point mode does not reduce the runtime.