Modelling and measurements of the diffraction of microwaves by buildings

The growth of urban microwave systems has led to an increase in the probability of mutual interference between users of the same frequency band. A building which obstructs the interference path will generally lead to a reduction in the strength of the interfering signal. A method is presented whereby the amount of site shielding afforded by a rectangular building may be predicted, considering two-dimensional and three-dimensional paths. Predictions are compared with measurements made using real buildings as the diffracting obstacle at a frequency of 11.2 GHz.