Comparison of indoor propagation models for multi floor staircase at 900 MHz and 1800 MHz

The development of incident area network (IAN) is to provide temporary wireless service primarily in emergency situations. The coverage areas of interest include both outdoor and indoor scenarios. In a high rise or multi floor building, staircases are commonly used by public safety personnel to move about different floors. As such, a good understanding of wireless signal wave attenuation along the staircase is crucial in order to support the planning of a reliable wireless IAN. This paper presents comparison of different established empirical indoor propagation models when applied to the staircase environment. Measured path losses in two dog-leg staircases are compared to path losses calculated from three different models at 900 MHz and 1800 MHz that are near to public safety communication bands. This paper attempts to demonstrate the accurateness of the standard models investigated and recommend the best model for application in the dog-leg staircase configuration setting.