Simulation of indoor propagation channel at infrared frequencies in furnished office environments

Diffused infrared communication is a potential candidate for providing wireless service to portable computers inside buildings. The details of a model that estimates the impulse response and frequency response of the infrared channel in indoor environments of different shapes and sizes are described. An important feature of the model is inclusion of the effect of office furniture and people in the room on the channel´s impulse response. The developed simulation package has been executed under diversified sets of conditions to obtain the impulse response of the IR channel in rooms of arbitrary shape, with and without furniture. The corresponding results have been compared with each other, and with some empirical data. The major conclusions are: (i) room furniture may have a great effect on the impulse response under certain conditions, (ii) there is general good match between the simulated and empirical frequency response functions of the channel