Interactive computation of coverage regions for wireless communication in multifloored indoor environments

For indoor wireless communication systems, radio frequency (RF) transceivers need to be placed strategically to achieve optimum communication coverage at the lowest cost. Unfortunately, the coverage region for a transceiver depends heavily on the type of building and on the placement of walls within the building. Traditionally, therefore, transceiver locations have been selected by human experts who rely on experience and heuristics to obtain the optimum (or near-optimum) placement. This paper describes an interactive software system that can be used to assist in transceiver placement. It is intended to be easy to use by individuals who are not experts at wireless communication system design. After the user has selected transceiver locations within a graphical floor plan, the system interprets the floor plan and uses simple path loss models to estimate coverage regions for each transceiver. These regions are highlighted, enabling the user to assess the total coverage. This paper describes the methodology used to compute the coverage regions for multifloored buildings and discusses the effect of interference sources. The resulting system is expected to be useful in the specification of indoor wireless systems.