Measurement-Based Small-Scale Channel Model for Sub-6 GHz RIS-Assisted Communications

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) have attracted increasing interest from both academia and industry, thanks to their unique features on controlling electromagnetic (EM) waves. Although theoretical models for RIS-empowered communications have covered a variety of applications, yet, very few papers have investigated the modeling of real propagation characteristics. In this paper, we fill this gap by providing an empirical statistical channel model to describe the small-scale channel variations for an RIS-assisted broadband system at 2.6 GHz. Based on real channel measurements in outdoor, indoor and outdoor-to-indoor (O2I) environments, we compare and analyze the global, inter-cluster and intra-cluster parameters. Measurement results indicate that the deployment of an RIS with proper phase configurations can significantly improve the channel quality by enhancing the $K$-factor and reducing the time dispersion. The small-scale fading is well characterized by the proposed statistical model and the empirical channel parameters. These results are essential for the design of emerging RIS-assisted wireless systems for future applications

Empirical characterization of the indoor radio channel for array antenna systems in the 3 to 4 GHz frequency band

Concerning the design and planning of new radio interfaces for the fifth-generation (5G) systems, this paper presents a useful contribution to the characterization of the wideband indoor radio channel in the 3-4-GHz frequency band. A measurement campaign has been carried out in two different indoor scenarios to analyze some of the most important wideband parameters of the propagation channel, including a thorough analysis of its behavior to meet the new radio technology challenges. The channel measurement setup consists of a virtual vertical uniform array at the receiver side of the link that remains at a fixed position, whereas the transmitter side, which is equipped with a single antenna, is placed at different positions in the environment under analysis. The measurement setup emulates the up-link of a multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system and allows obtaining the broadband parameters of the multiple channels that are established between the transmitter and each one of the antennas of the receiver array. The results and conclusions about the path loss, temporal dispersion, and coherence bandwidth are included, along with an analysis of the spatial correlation between wideband channels when one of the antennas is an array.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad under Project TEC2017-86779-C2-1-R and Project TEC2017-86779-C2-2-R

A MIMO-OFDM testbed, channel measurements, and system considerations for outdoor-indoor WiMAX

The design, implementation, and test of a real-time flexible 2×2 (Multiple Input Multiple Output-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) MIMO-OFDM IEEE 802.16 prototype are presented. For the design, a channel measurement campaign on the 3.5GHz band has been carried out, focusing on outdoor-indoor scenarios. The analysis of measured channels showed that higher capacity can be achieved in case of obstructed scenarios and that (Channel Distribution Information at the Transmitter) CDIT capacity is close to (Channel State Information at the Transmitter) CSIT with much lower complexity and requirements in terms of channel estimation and feedback. The baseband prototype used an (Field Programmable Gate Array) FPGA where enhanced signal processing algorithms are implemented in order to improve system performance. We have shown that for MIMO-OFDM systems, extra signal processing such as enhanced joint channel and frequency offset estimation is needed to obtain a good performance and approach in practice the theoretical capacity improvements

Performance study of an adaptive dual antenna handset for indoor communications

The focus of the paper is the design and evaluation of adaptive diversity for mobile handsets. Usually, diversity principles are optimised for base stations. However, for mobile new concepts must be developed to the size and power consumption constraints. A new modelling approach is introduced, which combines indoor radio channel simulations with circuit design parameters. This enables the inclusion of key system parameters, such as the speed of the user, the scanning speed of the antenna beams and the number of phase shifts. The radio channel simulations are based on a high-order finite-difference algorithm using the Berenger (1994) absorbing boundary condition to truncate the computational domain. The algorithm is found to be efficient and accurate enough to simulate very large structures. The analysis has resulted in an optimal design of an adaptive dual antenna handset, which combines received signals (fixed beam) while scanning the environment at the same time (scan beams). A prototype is evaluated with the numerical modelling tools and a measurement set-up. The performance is close to that of a perfect equal gain combine

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

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