Making wireless networks deliver

Introduction At a time when radio spectrum is a highly valued commodity and where environmental issues are high on the agenda of local planning authorities, it has become vital for network planners to determine the optimum network design to satisfy these demands. Accurately predicting propagation in highly cluttered environments, where local effects are dominant, is not a simple task. Using a measurement-based approach to predict the all-important signal strengths in different locations puts a little ‘reality’ back into the radio planning process, and provides the planners with more confidence in taking complex effects into account. Wireless networks in general, and cellular mobile networks in particular, require accurate planning and design in order to use efficiently the allocated radio spectrum. An optimised design also has a positive impact on the environment by minimising the number of sites needed to support the network. COMMUNICATIONS AND IT