Abstract

Mobile App Development for Radio Frequency Propagation Mapping
Track: Defense and Intelligence
Authors: David Walrath

The propagation of communication signals within an urban environment is a complex problem. In urban areas, channel impairments are strongly influenced by numerous physical and environmental factors including terrain, buildings, climate, etc. Because of this, the propagation characteristics of radio frequency (RF) signals vary with time and space. This paper provides an overview of research being conducted at the Pennsylvania State University where ArcGIS for Server, ArcGIS for Mobile, site-specific urban terrain data and a proprietary propagation engine have been combined to create a mobile radio frequency mapping application. This tool generates location specific RF path loss maps that allow users to rapidly characterize the RF environment in support of mission planning operations.