Furniture effects on the wideband indoor radio channel at microwave frequencies

Typically, ray-tracing indoor simulators rake into account the structural e lements of the environment, but not other objects, such as furniture. Radio -channel characteristics in empty and furnished environments have been meas ured along linear paths by using a wideband swept-techniqne-based sounder i n a band around 5.8 GHz. Wideband parameters, such as delay spread and cohe rence bandwidth, exhibit important variations when the room is furnished as opposed to the situation when it is empty. Such effects are important, so radio network designers should modify their predictions to guarantee that t he performance of wideband digital communication systems will be correct. ( C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.