A versatile propagation channel simulator for land mobile satellite applications

This paper introduces a new channel simulator for land mobile satellite (LMS) systems. The mobile's surroundings are characterized by topographical and land use data, as well as by a statistical description of single roadside objects. The propagation model combines the advantages of deterministic ray tracing algorithms with stochastic models for shadowing and short term fading effects. Thus, in contrast to entirely statistical and empirical approaches, the simulation tool is valid for a wide frequency range and a great variety of operational scenarios. Comparison of calculated results with published LMS measurements show good agreement.