Handbook of Propagation Effects for Vehicular and ... - Courses

Chapter 8
Earth-Satellite Propagation Effects Inside
Buildings
8.1 Background
Numerous investigations have been reported for the case in which both transmitter and
receiver were located within the same building [e.g., Fujimori and Arai, 1997; ITUR,
1995; Polydorou et al., 1995; Tang and Sobol, 1995, Wang et al., 1995, Seidel and
Rappaport, 1992, Bultitude et al., 1989; Rappaport, 1989]. Other experiments have been
conducted where the transmitter was placed outdoors to simulate antennas mounted close
to the ground radiating into nearby buildings [e.g., Cox et al., 1986, 1985, 1984; Hoffman
and Cox, 1982]. Few investigators have examined the propagation effects inside
buildings for the case in which transmissions originate from a satellite or a source
mounted on a platform simulating a satellite. Wells [1977] used transmissions from the
geostationary satellite ATS-6 at 860 MHz, 1.5 GHz and 2.6 GHz to determine the
average attenuation into wood-frame houses with and without brick veneer at various
elevation angles and frequencies. More recently, Vogel and Torrence [1993, 1995a,
1995b, 1995c] described the results of signal loss measurements made interior to a series
of buildings. The transmitting antenna was mounted on an outside tower that simulated a
satellite platform. The various frequencies considered ranged from 500 to 3000 MHz and
measurements of the relative signal losses were made to characterize the spatial,
temporal, and frequency variability. Although propagation effects similarities exist for
all of the above scenarios, this chapter is primarily concerned with the latter scenario;
namely that corresponding to a transmitter on a satellite platform or on a tower simulating
a satellite platform with reception measurements made within the building. For this
scenario, only results are considered in which outdoor obstacles do not obstruct the lineof-sight
path. The indoor results are also presented in the form of signal levels (in dB)
relative to those measured immediately outside the structure where an unobstructed lineof-sight
existed.