Wireless Channel Characterization: on the Validation Issues of Indoor Rf Models at 2.4 Ghz

This paper presents a case study of a Wi-Fi system operating in the frequency of 2.4 GHz. Two certain types of WLAN environments are examined: a home environment (typical residence) and a complex office environment. Experimental acquired data, for both single floor and multiple floor scenarios, are compared with the theoretical values provided by an existing plethora of indoor RF models, which did not, up to now, emphasize on 2.4 GHz (which is of major importance as it is the operating frequency of wireless local area networks), and provided values for their parameters based on wider ranges of frequencies. The work presented in this paper enables researchers to calculate and predict certain intrinsic characteristics of the buildings and floors (namely, of the overall indoor propagation environment) in order to provide a proper evaluation of the RF models (and therefore, optimize the network design) for the specific frequency of 2.4 GHz.