A Simple Prediction Model for Line of Sight Coverage in Urban Scenarios

Line of sight (LOS) or near line of sight often plays an important role in radio coverage for example for broadband fixed wireless access systems (BFWA) operating at high frequencies in urban areas. For coverage prediction and cell planning, complex ray tracing calculations based on detailed 3-D building information are usually necessary. In this article, a simple model is presented that directly predicts the average LOS coverage ratio for a given scenario defined by the cell size and base station height. The advantage of this model is the use of only four statistical parameters describing the area characteristics. These parameters can be easily estimated from only a small part of the database. The prediction model presented has been verified using 2.5-D building databases from typical urban areas. Despite the simplicity of the model, the results show a good agreement with ray tracing calculations.