Three-dimensional simulations of an urban outdoor wireless channel by the block-FDTD method

Full three-dimensional simulations of electromagnetic wave propagation in outdoor environments with the FDTD method the giga-hertz frequencies (or even mega-hertz) are not viable with the ordinary computational resources available nowadays. In order to reduce the required computational resources, especially memory, and make such simulations possible to perform in an eight-nodes-Beowulf-cluster, an alternative implementation technique is proposed: block-FDTD method, called here B-FDTD. The paper contains details about the method and results obtained by software developed based on B-FDTD, showing effects caused by ground and by diffractions generated at the edges of the buildings that compose the outdoor environment (time and frequency domains). The analyzed environment is 30/spl times/30/spl times/8 meters and received fields are registered at different points.