Statistical modelling of the indoor radio channel - an acoustic analogy

Many models exist for the prediction of the wideband characteristics of the indoor radio channel. Techniques range from simple empirical models, to complex site-specific algorithms making use of ray-tracing or finite difference methods. The simpler models offer little guidance to the designer of practical systems, while the more complex approaches generally require a level of knowledge of the physical characteristics of the building that is at best time consuming and at worst, impossible, to obtain. This paper proposes an intermediate approach to the modelling of the indoor, wideband, radio channel, following a physical-statistical approach initially inspired by methods employed in acoustic modelling.