getting name of the txsite that offers best SINR (or signal strength)

Hi All,

I am trying to put RF propagation functionality in the Antenna Toolbox to good use.

I have a scenario where there are multiple transmitters and I produce the SINR plot in a region of interest using sinr() function. My question is whether there is a way to programmatically find out the txsite that offered the best signal strength (and hence the best SINR) at a given point in the region of interest?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

[Umar]

Hi Darkh,

To approach this problem, begin by specifying the geographical area where you want to analyze the signal strength. This can be done by defining the coordinates or boundaries of the region. Then, use MATLAB Antenna Toolbox to create antenna elements that represent the transmitter sites in your network and specify the properties of each antenna, such as its gain pattern and location. Afterwards, utilize MATLAB Antenna Toolbox functions to calculate the field patterns and radiation characteristics of each antenna element within your defined region of interest and then implement algorithms within MATLAB to analyze the received signal strength at the desired point in the region of interest for each txsite. This can involve calculating path loss, shadowing effects, and antenna gains. Calculate the Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) at the specified location by considering not only the signal strength from the desired txsite but also interference from other nearby transmitters and background noise and compare the calculated signal strengths and SINR values from different txsites within the region of interest to determine which one offers the best performance at the given point. Below is a simplified script example to demonstrate how you can approach this problem using MATLAB Antenna Toolbox functions:

% Define Region of Interest ROI = [x, y]; % Specify coordinates of the point of interest

% Create Antenna Elements antenna1 = phased.IsotropicAntennaElement('AzimuthAngles',0,'ElevationAngles',0); antenna2 = phased.IsotropicAntennaElement('AzimuthAngles',30,'ElevationAngles',0);

% Calculate Field Patterns pattern1 = pattern(antenna1,frequency,azimuth,elevation); pattern2 = pattern(antenna2,frequency,azimuth,elevation);

% Determine Signal Strength signal_strength1 = calculate_signal_strength(antenna1,ROI); signal_strength2 = calculate_signal_strength(antenna2,ROI);

% Compute SINR SINR1 = calculate_SINR(signal_strength1, interference, noise); SINR2 = calculate_SINR(signal_strength2, interference, noise);

% Identify Best Txsite if SINR1 > SINR2 best_txsite = 'Txsite 1'; else best_txsite = 'Txsite 2'; end

disp(['The best txsite at ROI is: ', best_txsite]);

If you follow these steps and utilize MATLAB Antenna Toolbox functionalities as demonstrated in the script example above, you can effectively determine the txsite that offers the optimal signal strength and SINR at a specific point within your region of interest. This approach allows for a systematic analysis and comparison of different transmitter sites to identify the most favorable option based on your criteria.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

[darkh]

Hi Umar,

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation. Much appreciated!

In your code snippets, you are using functions lilke calculate_signal_strength( ) and calculate_SINR( ) which appear to be custom / user functions. I am using sinr( ) and sigstrength( ) functions from Antenna Toolbox that do provide the required quantities but do not explicitly return the best txsite. This is exactly what my question was about.

I know one can implement those functions but I would like to avoid re-inventing the wheel if possible.

Kind Regards,

darkh

[Umar]

Hi darkh,

To find the best txsite without reinventing the wheel, you can utilize the output of these functions to determine the optimal transmission site based on your specific criteria. By analyzing the results of sinr() and sigstrength() in combination with your requirements, you can identify the most suitable txsite for your application without the need to create new functions from scratch.