Effects of Diffraction and Ground Reflection on Ray-Tracing-Based Coverage Predictions in Urban Microcellular Environments

Two-and-one-half dimensional ray tracing models, in combination with the uniform theory of diffraction and geometrical optics, are widely employed for propagation prediction in urban microcellular environments because of their high efficiency and reliable prediction accuracy. In this study, an improved ray tracing algorithm based on the “orientation face set” concept and on the improved 2D polar sweep algorithm is used. The aim of this paper is mainly to analyze the effects of different propagation mechanisms on ray-tracing-based coverage predictions in urban microcellular environments. In addition, the effects associated with the coverage prediction are visually represented.