Terahertz Wireless Channels: A Holistic Survey on Measurement, Modeling, and Analysis

Terahertz (0.1-10 THz) communications are envisioned as a key technology for sixth generation (6G) wireless systems. The study of underlying THz wireless propagation channels provides the foundations for the development of reliable THz communication systems and their applications. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the study of THz wireless channels. First, the three most popular THz channel measurement methodologies, namely, frequency-domain channel measurement based on a vector network analyzer (VNA), time-domain channel measurement based on sliding correlation, and time-domain channel measurement based on THz pulses from time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), are introduced and compared. Current channel measurement systems and measurement campaigns are reviewed. Then, existing channel modeling methodologies are categorized into deterministic, stochastic, and hybrid approaches. State-of-the-art THz channel models are analyzed, and the channel simulators that are based on them are introduced. Next, an in-depth review of channel characteristics in the THz band is presented. Finally, open problems and future research directions for research studies on THz wireless channels for 6G are elaborated.Comment: to appear in IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorial

Development of wideband radio channel measurement and modeling techniques for future radio systems

This thesis discusses the development of micro- and millimeterwave wideband radio channel measurement and modeling techniques for future radio networks. Characterization of the radio channel is needed for radio system, wireless network, and antenna design. A radio channel measurement system was designed for 2.154, 5.3 GHz and 60 GHz center frequencies, and completed at the two lower frequencies. The sounder uses a pseudonoise code in the transmitter. In the receiver, first a sliding correlator, and later direct digital sampling, where the impulse response is detected by digital post processing, were realized. Certain implementation questions, like link budget, effects of phase noise on impulse response and direction of arrival estimation, and achievable performance using the designed concept, are discussed. Measurement campaigns included in this thesis were realized at 5.3 GHz frequency in micro- and picocells. A comprehensive measurement campaign performed inside different buildings was thoroughly analyzed. Propagation mechanisms were studied and empirical models for both large scale fading and multipath propagation were developed. Propagation through walls, diffraction through doorways, and propagation paths outside the building were observed. Pathloss in LOS was lower than the free space pathloss, due to wave guiding effects. In NLOS situation difference in the pathloss models in different buildings was significant. Behavior of the spatial diversity was estimated on the basis of spatial correlation functions extracted from the measurement data; an antenna separation of a fraction of a wavelength gives sufficient de-correlation for significant diversity gain in indoor environments at 5.3 GHz in NLOS.reviewe

Experimental analysis of multidimensional radio channels

In this thesis new systems for radio channel measurements including space and polarization dimensions are developed for studying the radio propagation in wideband mobile communication systems. Multidimensional channel characterization is required for building channel models for new systems capable of exploiting the spatial nature of the channel. It also gives insight into the dominant propagation mechanisms in complex radio environments, where their prediction is difficult, such as urban and indoor environments. The measurement systems are based on the HUT/IDC wideband radio channel sounder, which was extended to enable real-time multiple output channel measurements at practical mobile speeds at frequencies up to 18 GHz. Two dual-polarized antenna arrays were constructed for 2 GHz, having suitable properties for characterizing the 3-D spatial radio channel at both ends of a mobile communication link. These implementations and their performance analysis are presented. The usefulness of the developed measurement systems is demonstrated by performing channel measurements at 2 GHz and analyzing the experimental data. Spatial channels of both the mobile and base stations are analyzed, as well as the double-directional channel that fully characterizes the propagation between two antennas. It is shown through sample results that spatial domain channel measurements can be used to gain knowledge on the dominant propagation mechanisms or verify the current assumptions. Also new statistical information about scatterer distribution at the mobile station in urban environment is presented based on extensive real-time measurements. The developed techniques and collected experimental data form a good basis for further comparison with existing deterministic propagation models and development of new spatial channel models.reviewe

Millimeter wave propagation measurements and characteristics for 5G system

In future 5G systems, the millimeter wave (mmWave) band will be used to support a large capacity for current mobile broadband. Therefore, the radio access technology (RAT) should be made available for 5G devices to help in distinct situations, for example device-to-device communications (D2D) and multi-hops. This paper presents ultra-wideband channel measurements for millimeter wave bands at 19, 28, and 38 GHz. We used an ultra-wideband channel sounder (1 GHz bandwidth) in an indoor to outdoor (I2O) environment for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios. In an NLOS environment, there is no direct path (line of sight), and all of the contributed paths are received from different physical objects by refection propagation phenomena. Hence, in this work, a directional horn antenna (high gain) was used at the transmitter, while an omnidirectional antenna was used at the receiver to collect the radio signals from all directions. The path loss and temporal dispersion were examined based on the acquired measurement data—the 5G propagation characteristics. Two different path loss models were used, namely close-in (CI) free space reference distance and alpha-beta-gamma (ABG) models. The time dispersion parameters were provided based on a mean excess delay, a root mean square (RMS) delay spread, and a maximum excess delay. The path loss exponent for this NLOS specific environment was found to be low for all of the proposed frequencies, and the RMS delay spread values were less than 30 ns for all of the measured frequencies, and the average RMS delay spread values were 19.2, 19.3, and 20.3 ns for 19, 28, and 38 GHz frequencies, respectively. Moreover, the mean excess delay values were found also at 26.1, 25.8, and 27.3 ns for 19, 28, and 38 GHz frequencies, respectively. The propagation signal through the NLOS channel at 19, 28, and 38 GHz was strong with a low delay; it is concluded that these bands are reliable for 5G systems in short-range applications

A Localization System for Optimizing the Deployment of Small Cells in 2-Tier Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

Due to the ever growing population of mobile device users and expansion on the number of devices and applications requiring data usage, there is an increasing demand for improved capacity in wireless cellular networks. Cell densification and 2-tier heterogeneous networks (HetNets) are two solutions which will assist 5G systems in meeting these growing capacity demands. Small-cell deployment over existing heterogeneous networks have been considered by researchers. Different strategies for deploying these small-cells within the existing network among which are random, cell-edge and high user concentration (HUC) have also been explored. Small cells deployed on locations of HUC offloads traffic from existing network infrastructure, ensure good Quality of Service (QoS) and balanced load in the network but there is a challenge of identifying HUC locations. There has been considerable research performed into techniques for determining user location and cell deployment. Currently localization can be achieved using time dependent methods such as Time of Arrival (ToA), Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA), or Global Positioning Systems (GPS). GPS based solutions provide high accuracy user positioning but suffer from concerns over user privacy, and other time dependent approaches require regular synchronization which can be difficult to achieve in practice. Alternatively, Received Signal Strength (RSS) based solutions can provide simple anonymous user data, requiring no extra hardware within the mobile handset but often rely on triangulation from adjacent Base Stations (BS). In mobile cellular networks such solutions are therefore often only applicable near the cell edge, as installing additional BS would increase the complexity and cost of a network deployment. The work presented in this thesis overcomes these limitations by providing an observer system for wireless networks that can be used to periodically monitor the cell coverage area and identify regions of high concentrations of users for possible small cell deployment in 2-tier heterogeneous networks. The observer system comprises of two collinear antennas separated by λ/2. The relative phase of each antenna was varied using a phase shifter so that the combined output of the two antennas were used to create sum and difference radiation patterns, and to steer the antenna radiation pattern creating different azimuth positions for AoA estimation. Statistical regression analysis was used to develop range estimation models based on four different environment empirical pathloss models for user range estimation. Users were located into clusters by classifying them into azimuth-range classes and counting the number of users in each class. Locations for small cell deployment were identified based on class population. BPEM, ADEM, BUEM, EARM and NLOS models were developed for more accurate range estimation. A prototype system was implemented and tested both outdoor and indoor using a network of WiFi nodes. Experimental results show close relationship with simulation and an average PER in range estimation error of 80% by applying developed error models. Based on both simulation and experiment, system showed good performance. By deploying micro-, pico-, or femto-cells in areas of higher user concentration, high data rates and good quality of service in the network can be maintained. The observer system provides the network manager with relative angle of arrival (AoA), distance estimation and relative location of user clusters within the cell. The observer system divides the cell into a series of azimuthal and range sectors, and determines which sector the users are located in. Simulation and a prototype design of the system is presented and results have shown system robustness and high accuracy for its purpose

Indoor wireless communications and applications

Chapter 3 addresses challenges in radio link and system design in indoor scenarios. Given the fact that most human activities take place in indoor environments, the need for supporting ubiquitous indoor data connectivity and location/tracking service becomes even more important than in the previous decades. Specific technical challenges addressed in this section are(i), modelling complex indoor radio channels for effective antenna deployment, (ii), potential of millimeter-wave (mm-wave) radios for supporting higher data rates, and (iii), feasible indoor localisation and tracking techniques, which are summarised in three dedicated sections of this chapter

Radio resource scheduling in homogeneous coordinated multi-point joint transmission of future mobile networks

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)The demand of mobile users with high data-rate services continues to increase. To satisfy the needs of such mobile users, operators must continue to enhance their existing networks. The radio interface is a well-known bottleneck because the radio spectrum is limited and therefore expensive. Efficient use of the radio spectrum is, therefore, very important. To utilise the spectrum efficiently, any of the channels can be used simultaneously in any of the cells as long as interference generated by the base stations using the same channels is below an acceptable level. In cellular networks based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), inter-cell interference reduces the performance of the link throughput to users close to the cell edge. To improve the performance of cell-edge users, a technique called Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) transmission is being researched for use in the next generation of cellular networks. For a network to benefit from CoMP, its utilisation of resources should be scheduled efficiently. The thesis focuses on the resource scheduling algorithm development for CoMP joint transmission scheme in OFDMA-based cellular networks. In addition to the algorithm, the thesis provides an analytical framework for the performance evaluation of the CoMP technique. From the system level simulation results, it has been shown that the proposed resource scheduling based on a joint maximum throughput provides higher spectral efficiency compared with a joint proportional fairness scheduling algorithm under different traffic loads in the network and under different criteria of making cell-edge decision. A hybrid model combining the analytical and simulation approaches has been developed to evaluate the average system throughput. It has been found that the results of the hybrid model are in line with the simulation based results. The benefit of the model is that the throughput of any possible call state in the system can be evaluated. Two empirical path loss models in an indoor-to-outdoor environment of a residential area have been developed based on the measurement data at carrier frequencies 900 MHz and 2 GHz. The models can be used as analytical expressions to estimate the level of interference by a femtocell to a macrocell user in link-level simulations