Integration of experimentally measured propagation data into system simulations

The current interest in the development of third generation cellular radio systems has focused attention on propagation channel issues. CDMA systems occupy wide bandwidths, which typically exceed the channel coherence bandwidth, leading to severe frequency selective distortion. Extensive channel sounding campaigns have been carried out, and much data gathered, from which statistics may be derived to characterise these channels. These statistics may then be employed within generalised channel simulation software in non-real time, or within hardware channel emulators in real time. In this paper we consider an alternative method where channel sounding data may be accepted by a system simulation tool, which then predicts the performance of a particular radio system configuration. Benefits of this approach include simplicity, as reduction of the channel data to statistical parameters is not required, and realism as the actual recorded data is utilised.