Generalizable Machine-Learning-Based Modeling of Radiowave Propagation in Stadiums

Providing high throughput and quality of service in modern stadiums necessitates the placement of hundreds of access points (APs). Optimizing the locations of APs in such venues via measurements requires significant resources. Even simulation methods, such as ray-tracing, can be computationally costly. We provide a solution to this problem by building a propagation model based on machine learning (ML) that rapidly predicts received signal strengths in stadiums. We train the model with a small set of simulated data generated by a ray-tracer. We use input features, such as the electrical distance between the transmitter and the receiver, and the antenna gain along the direct path between the two, to generalize to new transmitter locations, antenna patterns and stadium geometries. Geometry and pattern generalization have not been included in existing propagation models for stadiums. Finally, we present a novel sampling approach for the input features in a given stadium, ensuring the computational efficiency and accuracy of the ML model. The results demonstrate the accuracy of our propagation model for new transmitter locations, patterns and stadiums. The trained model is also considerably faster than a ray-tracer, making it an efficient tool for resource planning tasks, such as optimal placement of APs.