Access Point Placement Model for Indoor Environment using Hybrid Empirical Propagation and Simulated Annealing Algorithm

Abstract

Determining of an Access Point (AP) placement is one of the most challenging problems in building a wireless network, especially for indoor environments. A network designer must understand precisely the factor that can affect the transmission of the signals so that they can predict the coverage of an AP based on its location. This research aims to give a novel method in placing the AP (transmitter antenna) for indoor environments using a combination of empirical propagation (ITU-R model) and optimization algorithm (Simulated Annealing). The ITU-R propagation approach is used to predict the signal strength, then calculate the best marking point for the transmitter based on the maximum signal strength in its coverage using the Simulated Annealing algorithm. The research proved that this proposed method could improve the coverage area until 30.964% and the average error value of this method is equal to 12.09%.