A Survey of Air-to-Ground Propagation Channel Modeling for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), particularly for small UAVs, due to their affordable prices, ease of availability, and ease of operability. Existing and future applications of UAVs include remote surveillance and monitoring, relief operations, package delivery, and communication backhaul infrastructure. Additionally, UAVs are envisioned as an important component of 5G wireless technology and beyond. The unique application scenarios for UAVs necessitate accurate air-to-ground (AG) propagation channel models for designing and evaluating UAV communication links for control/non-payload as well as payload data transmissions. These AG propagation models have not been investigated in detail when compared to terrestrial propagation models. In this paper, a comprehensive survey is provided on available AG channel measurement campaigns, large and small scale fading channel models, their limitations, and future research directions for UAV communication scenarios

Statistical millimeter wave channel modelling for 5G and beyond

Millimetre wave (mmWave) wireless communication is one of the most promising technologies for the fifth generation (5G) wireless communication networks and beyond. The very broad bandwidth and directional propagation are the two features of mmWave channels. In order to develop the channel models properly reflecting the characteristics of mmWave channels, the in-depth studies of mmWave channels addressing those two features are required. In this thesis, three mmWave channel models and one beam alignment scheme are proposed related to those two features. First, for studying the very broad bandwidth feature of mmWave channels, we introduce an averaged power delay profile (APDP) method to estimate the frequency stationarity regions (FSRs) of channels. The frequency non-stationary (FnS) properties of channels are found in the data analysis. A FnS model is proposed to model the FnS channels in both the sub-6 GHz and mmWave frequency bands and cluster evolution in the frequency domain is utilised in the implementation of FnS model. Second, for studying the directional propagation feature of mmWave channels, we develop an angular APDP (A-APDP) method to study the planar angular stationarity regions (ASRs) of directional channels (DCs). Three typical directional channel impulse responses (D-CIRs) are found in the data analysis and light-of-sight (LOS), non-LOS (NLOS), and outage classes are used to classify those DCs. A modified Saleh-Valenzuela (SV) model is proposed to model the DCs. The angular domain cluster evolution is utilised to ensure the consistency of DCs. Third, we further extend the A-APDP method to study the spherical-ASRs of DCs. We model the directional mmWave channels by three-state Markov chain that consists of LOS, NLOS, and outage states and we use stationary model, non-stationary model, and “null” to describe the channels in each Markov state according to the estimated ASRs. Then, we propose to use joint channel models to simulate the instantaneous directional mmWave channels based on the limiting distribution of Markov chain. Finally, the directional propagated mmWave channels when the Tx and Rx in motion is addressed. A double Gaussian beams (DGBs) scheme for mobile-to-mobile (M2M) mmWave communications is proposed. The connection ratios of directional mmWave channels in each Markov state are studied

Ultra-Wideband Wireless Channels - Estimation, Modeling and Material Characterization

This licentiate thesis is focused on the characterization of ultra-wideband wireless channels. The thesis presents results on ultra-wideband communications as well as on the ultra-wideband characterization of materials. The communications related work consisted in the measurement and modeling of outdoor scenarios envisioned for infostation systems. By infostation, we mean a communication system covering a small area, i.e., ranging up to 20 m, where mobile users can pass by or stop while receiving large amounts of data in a short period of time. Considering the expected (but perhaps overly optimistic) 480 Mbps for UWB systems, it should be possible to download a complete DVD in roughly two minutes, which is something not realizable with any of the current wireless technologies. Channel models, commonly based on measurements, can be used to evaluate the performance of such systems. We therefore, we started by performing measurements at one of the scenarios where infostation systems can exist in the future, namely, petrol stations. The idealized model, was one that could correctly describe the continuous evolution of the channel impulse response for a moving user within the system’s range, and therefore it was deemed necessary to track the multipath components defining the impulse responses along a path of several meters. To solve this problem we designed a novel high-resolution scatterer detection method, which is described in Paper I, capable of tracking individual multipath components for a moving user by identifying the originating point scatterers in a two dimensional geometrical space. The same paper also gives insight on some properties of clusters of scatterers, such as their direction-selective radiated power. The scatterer detection method described in Paper I provided us with the required tools to create the channel model described in Paper II. The proposed channel model has a geometrical basis, i.e., each realization of the channel is based on a virtual map containing point scatterers that contribute to the impulse response by multipath components. Some of the particular characteristics of the model include non-stationary effects, such as shadowing and cluster’s visibility regions. At the end of Paper II, in a simple validation step, the output of the channel model showed a good match with the measured impulse responses. The second part of our work, documented in Paper III, consisted on the dielectric characterization of soil samples using microwave measurements. This project was made in cooperation with the Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Analysis at Lund University, which had been developing research work on methane emissions from the wetlands in Zackenberg, Greenland. In recent years, a lot of attention has been put into the understanding of the methane emissions from soils, since methane is a greenhouse gas 20 times stronger than carbon dioxide. However, whereas the methane emissions from natural soils are well documented, the reason behind this effect is an open issue. The usage of microwave measurements to monitor soil samples, aims to address this problem by capturing the sub-surface changes in the soil during gas emissions. An experiment consisting on the monitoring of a soil sample was performed, and a good correlation was found between the variations of the microwave signals and the methane emissions. In addition, the soil dielectric constant was calculated, and from that, the volumetric fractions of the soil constituents which provided useful data for the elaboration of models to describe the gas emission triggering mechanisms. Based on this laboratory experiment, a complete soil monitoring system was created and is at the time of writing running at Zackenberg, Greenland

Time- and Frequency-Varying KK-Factor of Non-Stationary Vehicular Channels for Safety Relevant Scenarios

Vehicular communication channels are characterized by a non-stationary time- and frequency-selective fading process due to fast changes in the environment. We characterize the distribution of the envelope of the first delay bin in vehicle-to-vehicle channels by means of its Rician $K$-factor. We analyze the time-frequency variability of this channel parameter using vehicular channel measurements at 5.6 GHz with a bandwidth of 240 MHz for safety-relevant scenarios in intelligent transportation systems (ITS). This data enables a frequency-variability analysis from an IEEE 802.11p system point of view, which uses 10 MHz channels. We show that the small-scale fading of the envelope of the first delay bin is Ricean distributed with a varying $K$-factor. The later delay bins are Rayleigh distributed. We demonstrate that the $K$-factor cannot be assumed to be constant in time and frequency. The causes of these variations are the frequency-varying antenna radiation patterns as well as the time-varying number of active scatterers, and the effects of vegetation. We also present a simple but accurate bi-modal Gaussian mixture model, that allows to capture the $K$-factor variability in time for safety-relevant ITS scenarios.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures, submitted to IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems for possible publicatio

Cooperative Radio Communications for Green Smart Environments

The demand for mobile connectivity is continuously increasing, and by 2020 Mobile and Wireless Communications will serve not only very dense populations of mobile phones and nomadic computers, but also the expected multiplicity of devices and sensors located in machines, vehicles, health systems and city infrastructures. Future Mobile Networks are then faced with many new scenarios and use cases, which will load the networks with different data traffic patterns, in new or shared spectrum bands, creating new specific requirements. This book addresses both the techniques to model, analyse and optimise the radio links and transmission systems in such scenarios, together with the most advanced radio access, resource management and mobile networking technologies. This text summarises the work performed by more than 500 researchers from more than 120 institutions in Europe, America and Asia, from both academia and industries, within the framework of the COST IC1004 Action on "Cooperative Radio Communications for Green and Smart Environments". The book will have appeal to graduates and researchers in the Radio Communications area, and also to engineers working in the Wireless industry. Topics discussed in this book include: • Radio waves propagation phenomena in diverse urban, indoor, vehicular and body environments• Measurements, characterization, and modelling of radio channels beyond 4G networks• Key issues in Vehicle (V2X) communication• Wireless Body Area Networks, including specific Radio Channel Models for WBANs• Energy efficiency and resource management enhancements in Radio Access Networks• Definitions and models for the virtualised and cloud RAN architectures• Advances on feasible indoor localization and tracking techniques• Recent findings and innovations in antenna systems for communications• Physical Layer Network Coding for next generation wireless systems• Methods and techniques for MIMO Over the Air (OTA) testin

Artifact paths removal algorithm for ultra-wideband channels

Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a promising technology for achieving high data rate communications. When UWB channel measurements are conducted, channel impulse responses (CIRs) are extracted from measured UWB waveforms using CLEAN deconvolution algorithm. However, artifact paths that represent unreal received multipath components (MPCs) are generated during this process. These artifact paths are registered as part of the measured CIRs representing a reflected signal from a scatterer. In reality, these paths do not represent a real scattering environment and this affects accurate channel modeling. Therefore, removal of the artifact paths is important to conserve better and have a more real scattering environment. In this work, an algorithm was developed to remove artifact paths from measured CIRs. The algorithm development was achieved based on the concept of geometric elliptical modeling applied to wideband channels, where the effective path in each ellipse is utilized to represent the channel response of the ellipse. Several UWB channel measurements were conducted to obtain the measured UWB waveforms. In addition, the characteristics of the UWB channels were analyzed in terms of CIRs properties and their stationarity regions. The algorithm performance was evaluated by comparing the single-template CLEAN CIRs with the CIRs result from the application of the developed algorithm on single-template CLEAN CIRs. Results showed that the developed algorithm can successfully remove the artifact paths. Besides that, an enhancement in the received power was achieved. For a specific measured channel, the received power enhancement obtained was more than 5%. The algorithm is beneficial for enhancing accuracy of CIRs extracted from a single-template CLEAN algorithm. Consequently, more accurate channel characteristics are gained leading to improved channel modelling and different parameter extractions