Localization inside the human body using radio frequency (RF) transmission is gaining importance in a number of applications such as Wireless Video Capsule Endoscopy. The accuracy of RF localization depends on the technology adopted for this purpose. The two most common RF localization technologies use received signal strength (RSS) and time-of-arrival (TOA). This research presents a comparison of the accuracy of TOA and RSS based localization inside human tissue using computational techniques for simulation of radio propagation inside human tissues. Computer simulation of the propagation of radio waves inside the human body is extremely challenging and computationally intensive. We designed a basic, MATLAB coded, finite difference time-domain (FDTD) for the radio propagation in and around the human body and compared the results obtained from this software with the commonly used and commercially available Finite Element Method (FEM) modeling in ANSYS HFSS. We first show that the FDTD analysis yields comparable results. Then we use the software to simulate the RSS and TOA of the wideband signals propagated inside the human body for RF localization to compare the accuracies of the two methods. We then develop a statistical TOA model using empirical data gathered from these simulations; and, in conjunction with pre-established mathematical models for RSS, we compare the accuracy of each technique with the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) commonly used for calculation of bounds for the performance of localization techniques and the effects of human body movements.

The objective of this research is to investigate different propagation models to determine if specified models accurately predict received signal levels for short path 900 MHz spread spectrum radio systems. The City of Denton, Texas provided data and physical facilities used in the course of this study. The literature review indicates that propagation models have not been studied specifically for short path spread spectrum radio systems. This work should provide guidelines and be a useful example for planning and implementing such radio systems. The propagation model involves the following considerations: analysis of intervening terrain, path length, and fixed system gains and losses.

Several studies have characterized the path loss properties in industrial environments. However most of them have focused on one frequency, and some two or maximum three frequencies, usually cellular telephone frequencies or the unlicensed ISM bands that are commonly used in various industries. Few, if any, have characterized a larger part of the useable frequency range.This thesis is taking that challenge and investigates the path loss characteristics over a large frequency range, 300 MHz – 3 GHz, in industrial environments. First a measurement system suitable for the harsh environments found in industries is designed and verified. The measurement system is designed as two asynchronous stand-alone units that can be positioned at an arbitrary position to measure the path loss characteristics in any environment without interfering with the normal activities at the location. After that a measurement campaign involving three different types of environments is carried out. The environment types are: first, one highly absorbing – a paper warehouse at a paper mill; second, one highly reflective – a furnace building filled with metal objects and constructions and third, a mine tunnel – located 1 km below the surface of earth which is neither highly reflective nor absorbing but exhibits somewhat wave-guide like characteristics. The environments are shown to have very different behavior when it comes to propagation characteristics. Observations in the first environment reveal an environment that almost cancels out certain frequency bands and only line-of-sight communication is possible, hence no improvement will be achieved if installing systems that take multipath propagation into account, like MIMO. In the second environment reflections are legion; there are so many reflecting surfaces at different angles so any polarization of the signal is almost completely eliminated. Large fading variations were observed.The third environment is the underground mine where signals propagate inside the tunnels like in waveguides. It is shown that there are regions in the spectrum where the path loss dips and that these dips at least partly can be modeled with a simple two-beam propagation model normally used for outdoor propagation over infinite fields. The overall conclusion is that industrial environments are more heterogeneous regarding propagation characteristics than commonly assumed when selecting communication solutions. And that the only way to really know if a radio system will work at a certain location is to measure and characterize the environment.

Neste trabalho, modelos de pedestres, utilizados para simular a caracterização da radiopropagação em interiores de edifícios, são reproduzidos, analisados e comparados em diversos ambientes e com diferentes fluxos de pedestres. Estes modelos têm como base o método de traçado de raios (imagens), e se diferenciam em relação ao formato (lâmina, paralelepípedo e cilindro), constantes eletromagnéticas (material absorvente, condutor e dielétrico) e mecanismos de espalhamento de onda eletromagnética (difração, reflexão ou ambos) considerados sobre o pedestre. Para cada um dos modelos, um algoritmo foi criado e detalhado através da apresentação de equações e estrutura dos dados. A análise dos modelos foi realizada em duas etapas de comparação: uma com dados empíricos e outra entre parâmetros de caracterização do canal, como desvanecimentos e dispersão no tempo, obtidos através de simulações com cada tipo de modelo de pedestre. Dentre os vinte e nove modelos ensaiados, os resultados da análise mostraram que o pedestre modelado por um cilindro condutor é aquele que apresenta resultados mais satisfatórios. / In this work, pedestrian models, used to simulate characterization of indoor radio propagation are reproduced, analyzed and compared in different environments with different pedestrian flows. These models are based on the image ray-tracing method, and differs themselves on shape (plate, cylinder and cuboid), electromagnetic constant (absorber, conductive and dielectric materials) and considered spread mechanisms (diffraction, reflection, or both). For each model, an algorithm is created and detailed through the presentation of equations and data structure. The models analysis were made in two comparison steps: one with empirical data and the other with the environment characterization parameters, like fading and time spread, obtained through simulations of each pedestrian model. Within twenty nine models simulation, the results analysis show that the most satisfactory results are given by the model that considers the pedestrian as a conducting cylinder.

Using Time of Arrival (TOA) as ranging metric is the most popular technique for accurate indoor positioning. Accuracy of measuring the distance using TOA is sensitive to the bandwidth of the system and the multipath condition between the wireless terminal and the access point. In a telecommunication-specific application, the channel is divided into Line of Sight (LOS) and Obstructed Line of Sight (OLOS) based on the existence of physical obstruction between the transmitter and receiver. In indoor geolocation application, with extensive multipath conditions, the emphasis is placed on the behavior of the first path and the channel conditions are classified as Dominant Direct Path (DDP), Nondominant Direct Path (NDDP) and Undetected Direct Path (UDP). In general, as the bandwidth increases the distance measurement error decreases. However, for the so called UDP conditions the system exhibits substantially high distance measurement errors that can not be eliminated with the increase in the bandwidth of the system. Based on existing measurements performed in CWINS, WPI a measurement database that contains adequate number of measurement samples of all the different classification is created. Comparative analysis of TOA estimation in different multipath conditions is carried out using the measurement database. The performance of super-resolution and traditional TOA estimation algorithms are then compared in LOS, OLOS DDP, NDDP and UDP conditions. Finally, the analysis of the effect of system bandwidth on the behavior of the TOA of the first path is presented.

A caracterização de um canal de rádio é de suma importância para garantir a comunicação entre dois ou mais pontos, principalmente quando o canal é um ambiente repleto de obstáculos, como é o caso dos ambientes de multipercurso encontrados no interior de edifícios. Por conseguinte, neste trabalho, é apresentada uma caracterização experimental de rádio, escolhida por ser o ponto de partida entre outras formas de caracterização de canais de rádio, como, exemplo, a simulação computacional ou estatística. Dessa forma, são apresentadas duas campanhas de medidas, utilizando dois métodos diferentes para a caracterização do canal no interior de edifícios. A primeira, em banda estreita, foi realizada na freqüência de 3,5GHz, com o objetivo de estudar o comportamento da amplitude do sinal devido às perdas de percursos, desvanecimento em grande escala e desvanecimento plano em pequena escala. A segunda, em banda larga, foi realizada em 2,4GHz, e foi planejada com o objetivo de estudar o espalhamento temporal em razão do desvanecimento seletivo em freqüência do canal, utilizando-se apenas um analisador escalar de redes (medidas de módulo apenas). A primeira campanha, cuja metodologia já havia sido apresentada em outros trabalhos, foi realizada através de extensas medidas no prédio da Engenharia Elétrica da Universidade de São Paulo, de forma que diversos parâmetros e características estatísticas puderam ser obtidos através do processamento dos dados. Já a segunda campanha, por ser baseada em um método relativamente recente e pouco investigado, foi realizada através da medição e processamento dos dados obtidos em canais de respostas impulsivas conhecidas e de uma pequena área do mesmo prédio estudado na primeira campanha, com o objetivo de validar o método utilizado e verificar suas limitações. Os métodos e resultados obtidos são apresentados e comentados. / The radio channel characterization is very important to guarantee the communication between two or more points, especially when the channel is an environment full of obstacles, like the multipath indoor environment. Therefore, this work presents an experimental radio channel characterization, chosen because it is the base for other types of radio channel characterization, such as, the computational or statistic simulation. Herein, two measurement campaigns, using two different methods for the indoor radio channel characterization, are presented. The first one, in narrow band, at 3,5GHz was planned with the purpose of analyzing the signal strength behavior due to the path loss, the large scale fading and the small scale flat fading. The second campaign, in wide band, at 2,4GHz, was planed with the goal of analyzing the signal time spread due to the small scale selective frequency fading, using only a scalar network analyzer (magnitude measurements only). The first campaign, whose characterization has already been presented in other publications, was made through extensive measurements in the Electrical Engineering building of the University of São Paulo, in such a way several parameters and statistical characteristics were obtained from the processed data. The second campaign, which was based on a relatively recent and little investigated method, consisted of measurements and processing of the data obtained from some known impulsive response channels and from a smaller scale measurement campaign made in a small part of the same building studied in the first campaign, in order to validate the method used and to verify its limitations. The methods and results obtained are presented and commented.

A caracterização de um canal de rádio é de suma importância para garantir a comunicação entre dois ou mais pontos, principalmente quando o canal é um ambiente repleto de obstáculos, como é o caso dos ambientes de multipercurso encontrados no interior de edifícios. Por conseguinte, neste trabalho, é apresentada uma caracterização experimental de rádio, escolhida por ser o ponto de partida entre outras formas de caracterização de canais de rádio, como, exemplo, a simulação computacional ou estatística. Dessa forma, são apresentadas duas campanhas de medidas, utilizando dois métodos diferentes para a caracterização do canal no interior de edifícios. A primeira, em banda estreita, foi realizada na freqüência de 3,5GHz, com o objetivo de estudar o comportamento da amplitude do sinal devido às perdas de percursos, desvanecimento em grande escala e desvanecimento plano em pequena escala. A segunda, em banda larga, foi realizada em 2,4GHz, e foi planejada com o objetivo de estudar o espalhamento temporal em razão do desvanecimento seletivo em freqüência do canal, utilizando-se apenas um analisador escalar de redes (medidas de módulo apenas). A primeira campanha, cuja metodologia já havia sido apresentada em outros trabalhos, foi realizada através de extensas medidas no prédio da Engenharia Elétrica da Universidade de São Paulo, de forma que diversos parâmetros e características estatísticas puderam ser obtidos através do processamento dos dados. Já a segunda campanha, por ser baseada em um método relativamente recente e pouco investigado, foi realizada através da medição e processamento dos dados obtidos em canais de respostas impulsivas conhecidas e de uma pequena área do mesmo prédio estudado na primeira campanha, com o objetivo de validar o método utilizado e verificar suas limitações. Os métodos e resultados obtidos são apresentados e comentados. / The radio channel characterization is very important to guarantee the communication between two or more points, especially when the channel is an environment full of obstacles, like the multipath indoor environment. Therefore, this work presents an experimental radio channel characterization, chosen because it is the base for other types of radio channel characterization, such as, the computational or statistic simulation. Herein, two measurement campaigns, using two different methods for the indoor radio channel characterization, are presented. The first one, in narrow band, at 3,5GHz was planned with the purpose of analyzing the signal strength behavior due to the path loss, the large scale fading and the small scale flat fading. The second campaign, in wide band, at 2,4GHz, was planed with the goal of analyzing the signal time spread due to the small scale selective frequency fading, using only a scalar network analyzer (magnitude measurements only). The first campaign, whose characterization has already been presented in other publications, was made through extensive measurements in the Electrical Engineering building of the University of São Paulo, in such a way several parameters and statistical characteristics were obtained from the processed data. The second campaign, which was based on a relatively recent and little investigated method, consisted of measurements and processing of the data obtained from some known impulsive response channels and from a smaller scale measurement campaign made in a small part of the same building studied in the first campaign, in order to validate the method used and to verify its limitations. The methods and results obtained are presented and commented.

Neste trabalho, modelos de pedestres, utilizados para simular a caracterização da radiopropagação em interiores de edifícios, são reproduzidos, analisados e comparados em diversos ambientes e com diferentes fluxos de pedestres. Estes modelos têm como base o método de traçado de raios (imagens), e se diferenciam em relação ao formato (lâmina, paralelepípedo e cilindro), constantes eletromagnéticas (material absorvente, condutor e dielétrico) e mecanismos de espalhamento de onda eletromagnética (difração, reflexão ou ambos) considerados sobre o pedestre. Para cada um dos modelos, um algoritmo foi criado e detalhado através da apresentação de equações e estrutura dos dados. A análise dos modelos foi realizada em duas etapas de comparação: uma com dados empíricos e outra entre parâmetros de caracterização do canal, como desvanecimentos e dispersão no tempo, obtidos através de simulações com cada tipo de modelo de pedestre. Dentre os vinte e nove modelos ensaiados, os resultados da análise mostraram que o pedestre modelado por um cilindro condutor é aquele que apresenta resultados mais satisfatórios. / In this work, pedestrian models, used to simulate characterization of indoor radio propagation are reproduced, analyzed and compared in different environments with different pedestrian flows. These models are based on the image ray-tracing method, and differs themselves on shape (plate, cylinder and cuboid), electromagnetic constant (absorber, conductive and dielectric materials) and considered spread mechanisms (diffraction, reflection, or both). For each model, an algorithm is created and detailed through the presentation of equations and data structure. The models analysis were made in two comparison steps: one with empirical data and the other with the environment characterization parameters, like fading and time spread, obtained through simulations of each pedestrian model. Within twenty nine models simulation, the results analysis show that the most satisfactory results are given by the model that considers the pedestrian as a conducting cylinder.

This thesis uses a method called "parabolic equation approach." This method can treat both the variations of the terrain and the refractive index simultaneously. This method makes it possible to predict the radio propagation more precisely. We can discuss the effects of the variations of the refractive index to radio signal and demo effects by using parabolic equation method. The Effective Earth Radius Factor is 4/3 suggested by CCIR so-called "Standard Atmosphere Model". But we try to find more suitable K in the Southern Taiwan area. We adopt Parabolic Equation Propagation Model to simulate real situation of radio propagation in the Southern Taiwan area and the prediction is compared with the measurement obtained previously. We can get the best K in the Southern Taiwan area is 1.8 and 1.9. The best K is greater than the value of 4/3 suggested by CCIR. Recently the government on Taiwan release more radio broadcasting licenses to the general public. As the number of radio stations increases, the interference between stations becomes more likely. There have been reports about the poor quality of broadcasting from stations. In this paper, we will study the interference using FM radio stations as an example. Given the characteristics of the transmitting antenna including location, frequency, pattern, height and power, the field strength can be computed with the equivalent earth radius factor K as a parameter. The difference in interference level is obtained under the standard atmosphere (K=4/3) and a case of K=1.55 which has been reported to be more suitable in Taiwan. Finally an extreme case that a ducting exists will be studied. Our results can be used to find more suitable separation distances free from interferences between co-channel and adjacent channel stations. By including a realistic tropospheric term, the more accurate field strength predictions can give the Spectrum Authority a better spectrum assignment tool. This has the potential to increase the number of available stations that can be made available or to reduce the interference stations may experience.

[pt] Este trabalho apresenta a base de um modelo matemático destinado a interpretar teoricamente o comportamento estatístico de sinais sujeitos a desvanecimentos rápidos em enlaces de microondas em visibilidade. As teorias existentes para explicar a dependência do fenômeno com as características de um lance são discutidas em função dos resultados experimentais disponíveis. Foi investigado com especial atenção o relacionamento entre as profundidades de desvanecimento e a rugosidade do relevo, demonstrando-se que a fórmula empírica atualmente em uso é perfeitamente adequada para quantificar este efeito. / [en] The purpose of this work is to present a mathematical model to interpret theoreticallly the statistical behavior of deep fades in line-of-sight microware paths. The previous theories are discussed and compared to the known experimental data. A simple model is used to obtain a theoretical dependence of the fades deepth with the path roughness. The results show that the empirical expression presently in use quantifies correctly this effect.