Measured Channel Hardening in an Indoor Multiband Scenario

A study of channel hardening in a large-scale antenna system has been carried out by means of indoor channel measurements over four frequency bands, namely 1.472 GHz, 2.6 GHz, 3.82 GHz and 4.16 GHz. NTNU's Reconfigurable Radio Network Platform has been used to record the channel estimates for 40 single user non-line of sight radio links to a 64 element wide-band antenna array. By examining the rms delay spread and the ratio of the normalized subcarrier to average SISO link power of the radio channel received by a single user after combination, the hardening of this equivalent channel is analyzed for various numbers of nodes. The channel hardening merits show consistent behaviour throughout the frequency bands. By combining 16 antennas the rms delay spread of the equivalent channel is reduced from above 100 ns to below 35 ns with significantly reduced variation in the channel power.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, presented at IEEE PIMRC 201

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

UWB channel characterization in 28 ghz millimeter waveband for 5G cellular networks

The demands of high data rate transmission for future wireless communication technologies are increasing rapidly. The current bands for cellular network will not be able to satisfy these requirements. The millimeter wave (mm-wave) bands are the candidate bands for the future cellular networks. The 28 GHz band is the strongest candidate for 5G cellular networks. The large bandwidth at this band is one of the main parameters that make the mm-wave bands promising candidate for the future cellular networks. To know the wideband channel behavior in mm-wave bands, the wideband channel characterizations are required. In this paper, the 3D WINNER model is used to model the wideband channel at 28 GHz band. Based on this model, the time dispersion parameters at 28 GHz mm-wave band are investigated. The root mean square delay spread and the mean excess delay are the main parameters that can be used to characterize the wideband channel. Morever, the cumulative distribution function (CDF) is used to model the RMS delay spreads. The results show that the RMS delay spread varies between 4.1 ns and 443.7 ns

Massive MIMO for Dependable Communication

Cellular communication is constantly evolving; currently 5G systems are being deployed and research towards 6G is ongoing. Three use cases have been discussed as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communication (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC). To fulfill the requirements of these use cases, new technologies are needed and one enabler is massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO). By increasing the number of antennas at the base station side, data rates can be increased, more users can be served simultaneously, and there is a potential to improve reliability. In addition, it is possible to achieve better coverage, improved energy efficiency, and low-complex user devices. The performance of any wireless system is limited by the underlying channels. Massive MIMO channels have shown several beneficial properties: the array gain stemming from the combining of the signals from the many antennas, improved user separation due to favourable propagation -- where the user channels become pair-wise orthogonal -- and the channel hardening effect, where the variations of channel gain decreases as the number of antennas increases. Previous theoretical works have commonly assumed independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) complex Gaussian channels. However, in the first studies on massive MIMO channels, it was shown that common outdoor and indoor environments are not that rich in scattering, but that the channels are rather spatially correlated. To enable the above use cases, investigations are needed for the targeted environments. This thesis focuses on the benefits of deploying massive MIMO systems to achieve dependable communication in a number of scenarios related to the use cases. The first main area is the study of an industrial environment and aims at characterizing and modeling massive MIMO channels to assess the possibility of achieving the requirements of URLLC in a factory context. For example, a unique fully distributed array is deployed with the aim to further exploit spatial diversity. The other main area concerns massive MIMO at sub-GHz, a previously unexplored area. The channel characteristics when deploying a physically very large array for IoT networks are explored. To conclude, massive MIMO can indeed bring great advantages when trying to achieve dependable communication. Although channels in regular indoor environments are not i.i.d. complex Gaussian, the model can be justified in rich scattering industrial environments. Due to massive MIMO, the small-scale fading effects are reduced and when deploying a distributed array also the large-scale fading effects are reduced. In the Internet-of-Things (IoT) scenario, the channel is not as rich scattering. In this use case one can benefit from the array gain to extend coverage and improved energy efficiency, and diversity is gained due to the physically large array

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