Numerical modeling of an indoor wireless environment for the performance evaluation of WLAN systems

A site-specific numerical model, based on the finite-difference time-domain method, is developed in this paper for the indoor radio channel. The scenario of interest is concerned with wave propagation in a typical office environment, for which several simulations are performed considering different placements of the transmitting antenna. Both the 2- and 5-GHz bands are examined, where contemporary wireless local area networks operate. Important channel characteristics are evaluated via the estimation of received power levels, as well as the examination of small-scale fading and time dispersion.