Pathloss Calculation Using the Transmission Line Matrix and Finite Difference Time Domain Methods With Coarse Grids

Numerical simulations of the wave equation that are intended to provide accurate time domain solutions require a computational mesh with grid points separated by a distance less than the wavelength of the source term and initial data. However, calculations of radio signal pathloss generally do not require accurate time domain solutions. This paper describes an approach for calculating pathloss by using the finite difference time domain and transmission line matrix models of wave propagation on a grid with points separated by distances much greater than the signal wavelength. The calculated pathloss can be kept close to the true value for freespace propagation with an appropriate selection of initial conditions. This method can also simulate diffraction with an error governed by the ratio of the signal wavelength to the grid spacing.