In this paper we present a fast ray-tracing technique with scalable approximation accuracy for field strength prediction in cellular mobile network planning. Automatic network design methods, like the adaptive base station positioning algorithm (ABPA), perform a huge number of field strength estimations and require therefore a fast and accurate approximation. However, common prediction techniques either give only rough estimations or are too complex for fast evaluation. The proposed new ray-tracing technique obtains its speed-up by taking advantage of the topological information inherent in the used triangulation data structure of the investigated terrain. By that, it is possible to apply simple mathematics and algorithms to trace individual rays. The applicability of the fast ray-tracing technique is demonstrated for both a single transmitter scenario and in conjunction with ABPA.
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