Simulation method of wireless LAN indoor propagation using FDTD technique and MATLAB/simulink

The use of wireless LAN system is widely spread because the handling of cables is not needed and the high-speed communication is possible anywhere. However, high-speed wireless applications require precise evaluation and estimation of indoor propagation since the influence of physical propagation environment cannot be ignored. In this paper, we suggest an efficient computer simulation method of indoor propagation. It employs the FDTD technique for electromagnetic field analysis in the passband and MATLAB/Simulink for baseband signal generation, reception and processing in wireless LAN equipments. First the proposed method is explained in detail. Next, we carry out a computer simulation about radio wave propagation of IEEE 802.11b wireless LAN in the free space and show the effectiveness of the proposed method. In the method, baseband signals are simulated by MATLAB/Simulink on a personal computer. On the other hand, a high-end computer system is used for the electromagnetic field analysis by the FDTD method.