Radiomap Inpainting for Restricted Areas based on Propagation Priority and Depth Map

Providing rich and useful information regarding spectrum activities and propagation channels, radiomaps characterize the detailed distribution of power spectral density (PSD) and are important tools for network planning in modern wireless systems. Generally, radiomaps are constructed from radio strength measurements by deployed sensors and user devices. However, not all areas are accessible for radio measurements due to physical constraints and security consideration, leading to non-uniformly spaced measurements and blanks on a radiomap. In this work, we explore distribution of radio spectrum strengths in view of surrounding environments, and propose two radiomap inpainting approaches for the reconstruction of radiomaps that cover missing areas. Specifically, we first define a propagation-based priority and integrate exemplar-based inpainting with radio propagation model for fine-resolution small-size missing area reconstruction on a radiomap. Then, we introduce a novel radio depth map and propose a two-step template-perturbation approach for large-size restricted region inpainting. Our experimental results demonstrate the power of the proposed propagation priority and radio depth map in capturing the PSD distribution, as well as the efficacy of the proposed methods for radiomap reconstruction.

Exemplar-Based Radio Map Reconstruction of Missing Areas Using Propagation Priority

Radio map describes network coverage and is a practically important tool for network planning in modern wireless systems. Generally, radio strength measurements are collected to construct fine-resolution radio maps for analysis. However, certain protected areas are not accessible for measurement due to physical constraints and security considerations, leading to blanked spaces on a radio map. Non-uniformly spaced measurement and uneven observation resolution make it more difficult for radio map estimation and spectrum planning in protected areas. This work explores the distribution of radio spectrum strengths and proposes an exemplar-based approach to reconstruct missing areas on a radio map. Instead of taking generic image processing approaches, we leverage radio propagation models to determine directions of region filling and develop two different schemes to estimate the missing radio signal power. Our test results based on high-fidelity simulation demonstrate efficacy of the proposed methods for radio map reconstruction.