Site-Specific Location Calibration and Validation of Ray-Tracing Simulator NYURay at Upper Mid-Band Frequencies

Abstract: Ray-tracing (RT) simulators are essential for wireless digital twins, enabling accurate site-specific radio channel prediction for next-generation wireless systems. Yet, RT simulation accuracy is often limited by insufficient measurement data and a lack of systematic validation. This paper presents site-specific location calibration and validation of NYURay, NYU's in-house ray tracer, at upper mid-band frequencies (6.75 GHz and 16.95 GHz). We propose a location calibration algorithm that corrects GPS-induced position errors by optimizing transmitter-receiver (TX-RX) locations to align simulated and measured power delay profiles, improving TX-RX location accuracy by 42.3% for line-of-sight (LOS) and 13.5% for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios. Validation across 18 TX-RX locations shows excellent RT accuracy in path loss prediction, with path loss exponent (PLE) deviations under 0.14. While RT underestimates delay spread and angular spreads, their cumulative distributions remain statistically similar. The validated NYURay advances RT validation and provides reliable channel statistics for 6G deployment.