A Hybrid Ray Launching-Diffusion Equation Approach for Propagation Prediction in Complex Indoor Environments

A novel and efficient deterministic approach to model radiowave propagation channels in complex indoor environments, improving prediction accuracy, is proposed. This technique combines a three-dimensional ray launching algorithm based on geometrical optics with a diffusion equation method based on the equation of transfer. A comparison between the geometrical optics-only approach and the new method considering the diffusion equation has been presented for studying indoor radiowave propagation. The geometrical optics-diffusion equation method achieves better agreement with measurements, while resulting in high computational efficiency, with approximately 40% savings in simulation time.