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EM.Terrano is a physics-based, site-specific, wave propagation modeling tool that enables engineers to quickly determine how radio waves propagate in urban, natural or mixed environments. The rapid growth of wireless communications along with the high costs associated with the design and deployment of effective wireless infrastructures underline a persistent need for computer aided communication network planning tools. Wireless engineers have long used simplistic statistical prediction models based on measurements that often exhibit considerable errors especially in areas having mixed building sizes.
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Since its introduction in 2002, EM.Terrano has helped wireless engineers around the globe model the physical channel and the mechanisms by which radio signals propagate from transmitters to receivers. EM.Terranoâs advanced ray tracing simulator finds the dominant propagation paths specific to the site in question. It calculates the true signal characteristics at the actual locations using physical databases of the buildings and terrain at a given site, not those of a statistically average or representative environment. EM.Terranoâs ray tracer is based on the shoot-and-bounce-rays (SBR) method, which utilizes geometrical optics (GO) in combination with uniform theory of diffraction (UTD) models of building edges.
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The new EM.Terrano 2013 has been totally reconstructed based on our integrated [[EM.Cube]] software foundation. This integration has created the opportunity to inject a host of new powerful features such as a highly customizable terrain generator, DEM terrain import, complex building constructions, and versatile interior wall arrangements for indoor propagation modeling. As a result of this seamless interface with [[EM.Cube]]'s other modules, you can now model complex antenna systems in [[EM.Picasso]], [[EM.Tempo]] or [[EM.Libera]], and generate antenna radiation patterns than can be used to model directional transmitters and receivers at the two ends of your propagation channel. Conversely, you can analyze a propagation scene in EM.Terrano and import the rays received at a certain receiver location as coherent plane wave sources to [[EM.Picasso]], [[EM.Tempo]] or [[EM.Libera]]. You can also model periodic wall or ground structures using the periodic simulation capability of [[EM.Picasso]] or [[EM.Tempo]] and generate macromodels for their reflection and transmission coefficients as functions of the ray incidence angles. You can then define buildings or terrains in your propagation scene that are governed by such macromodels.
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== An EM.Terrano Primer ==
The different rays arriving at a receiver location create constructive and destructive interference patterns. This is known as the multipath effect. This together with the shadowing effects caused by building obstructions lead to channel fading. In many wireless applications, the total received power by the receiver is all that matters. In some others, the angle of arrival of the rays as well as their polarization are of immense interest.
===EM.Terrano in a Nutshell ===
EM.Terrano is a physics-based, site-specific, wave propagation modeling tool that enables engineers to quickly determine how radio waves propagate in urban, natural or mixed environments. EM.Terrano's simulation engine is equipped with a fully polarimetric, coherent ray tracing solver based on the Shooting-and-Bouncing-Rays (SBR) method, which utilizes geometrical optics (GO) in combination with uniform theory of diffraction (UTD) models of building edges. EM.Terrano lets you analyze and resolve all the rays transmitted from one ore more signal sources, which propagate in a real physical site made up of buildings, terrain and other obstructing structures. EM.Terrano finds all the rays received by a receiver at a particular location in the physical site and computes their power levels, time delays, angles of arrival, etc. Using EM.Terrano you can examine connectivity of a communication link between any two points in a real specific propagation site.
=== Line-of-Sight vs. Multipath Propagation Channel ===