Path loss model and prediction of range, power and throughput for 802.11n in large conference rooms

In this paper, a path loss (PL) model for IEEE 802.11n in large conference rooms is proposed. The PL can be described accurately by a one-slope model with PL exponents varying from 1.2 to 1.7. The influence of humans (during a meeting) on the PL model is investigated. It was found that the PL exponent increases towards 2 in the presence of humans. Further, the effect of frequency (2.4/5 GHz), antenna configuration (SISO vs. MIMO 2×2), bandwidth (20 vs. 40 MHz) and transmit power on the required number of access points for wireless conferencing, total radiated power consumption and maximum throughput is investigated. This is done by link budget calculation, based on our proposed PL model as well as the IEEE 802.11 TGn channel model. In this evaluation, it was found that the two PL models predict some essentially different effects concerning throughput and radiated power.