Impact of Rough Surface Scattering on Stochastic Multipath Component Models

Multipath-assisted positioning makes use of specular multipath components (MPCs), whose parameters are geometrically related to the positions of the transceiver nodes. Diffuse scattering from rough surfaces affects the observed specular reflections in the angular and delay domains. Based on the effective roughness approach, the angular delay power spectrum can be calculated as a function of location parameters, which-in a next step-could be useful to accurately characterize the position-related information of MPCs. The calculated power spectra follow reported characteristics of stochastic multipath models, i.e. Gaussian shape in the angular domain and an exponential shape in the delay domain. The resulting angular and delay spreads are in an equivalent range to values reported in literature

On Channels with Composite Rough Surfaces at Terahertz Frequencies

The paper preliminarily examines the influence of diffuse reflection by composite rough surfaces in ultra-broadband terahertz (THz) communication channels across 300 GHz (0.3 THz) to 310 GHz (0.31 THz) frequency spectrum. At terahertz frequencies, diffuse reflection tends to be higher due to the increased surface roughness and this surface roughness causes an additional attenuation even in a specular direction of reflection (by the amount that is scattered into non-specular directions). Two most famous modeling approaches, Rayleigh-Rice (R-R) and Beckmann-Kirchhoff (B-K) theories are employed to account for the surface scattering and compared by demonstrating the multipath channel transfer function (CTF) dynamics for line-of-sight (LoS) and non-line-of-sight (NLoS) conditions in a simple office environment. The R-R vector perturbation approach predicts diffuse reflection from optically smooth surfaces (σ h /λ≪1), whilst classical B-K theory in addition attempts to predict the angular distribution of the scattered field from very rough surfaces (σ h /λ≪1). The composite rough surfaces considered in this work have a Gaussian probability density of height and a Gaussian correlation function. Based on these results, it is concluded that the rough surface scattering effects are enhanced at terahertz frequencies and the scattering phenomena show a significant impact, especially in NLoS configuration

Angular dispersion of radio waves in mobile channels

Multi-antenna techniques are an important solution for significantly increasing the bandwidth efficiency of mobile wireless data transmission systems. Effective and reliable design of these multi-antenna systems requires thorough knowledge of radiowave propagation in the urban environment. The aim of the work presented in this thesis is to obtain a better physical understanding of radiowave propagation in mobile radio channels in order to provide a basis for the improvement of radiowave propagation prediction techniques for urban environments using knowledge from 3-D propagation experiments and simulations combined with space-wave modelling. In particular, the work focusses on: the development of an advanced 3-D mobile channel sounding system, obtaining propagation measurement data from mobile radio propagation experiments, the analysis of measured data and the modelling of angular dispersive scattering effects for the improvement of deterministic propagation prediction models. The first part of the study presents the design, implementation and verification of a wideband high-resolution measurement system for the characterisation of angular dispersion in mobile channels. The system uses complex impulse response data obtained from a novel 3-D tilted-cross switched antenna array as input to an improved version of 3-D Unitary ESPRIT. It is capable of characterising the delay and angular properties of physically-nonstationary radio channels at moderate urban speeds with high resolution in both azimuth and elevation. For the first time, omnidirectional video data that were captured during the measurements are used in combination with the measurement results to accurately identify and relate the received radio waves directly to the actual environment while moving through it. The second part of the study presents the results of experiments in which the highresolution measurement system, described in the first part, is used in several mobile outdoor experiments in different scenarios. The objective of these measurements was to gain more knowledge in order to improve the understanding of radiowave propagation. From these results the dispersive effects in the angular domain, caused by rough building surfaces and other irregular structures was paid particular attention. These effects not only influence the total amount of received power in dense urban environments, but can also have a large impact on the performance and deployment of multi-antenna systems. To improve the data representation and support further data analysis a hierarchical clustering method is presented that can successfully identify clusters of multipath signal components in multidimensional data. By using the data obtained from an omnidirectional video camera the clusters can be related directly to the environment and the scattering effects of specific objects can be isolated. These results are important in order to improve and calibrate deterministic propagation models. In the third part of the study a new method is presented to account for the angular dispersion caused by irregular surfaces in ray-tracing based propagation prediction models. The method is based on assigning an effective roughness to specific surfaces. Unlike the conventional reflection reduction factor for Gaussian surfaces, that only reduces the ray power, the new method also distributes power in the angular domain. The results of clustered measurement data are used to calibrated the model and show that this leads to improved channel representations that are better matched to the real-world channel behavior

CHANNEL MODELING FOR FIFTH GENERATION CELLULAR NETWORKS AND WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

In view of exponential growth in data traffic demand, the wireless communications industry has aimed to increase the capacity of existing networks by 1000 times over the next 20 years. A combination of extreme cell densification, more bandwidth, and higher spectral efficiency is needed to support the data traffic requirements for fifth generation (5G) cellular communications. In this research, the potential improvements achieved by using three major 5G enabling technologies (i.e., small cells, millimeter-wave spectrum, and massive MIMO) in rural and urban environments are investigated. This work develops SPM and KA-based ray models to investigate the impact of geometrical parameters on terrain-based multiuser MIMO channel characteristic. Moreover, a new directional 3D channel model is developed for urban millimeter-wave (mmW) small cells. Path-loss, spatial correlation, coverage distance, and coherence length are studied in urban areas. Exploiting physical optics (PO) and geometric optics (GO) solutions, closed form expressions are derived for spatial correlation. Achievable spatial diversity is evaluated using horizontal and vertical linear arrays as well as planar 2D arrays. In another study, a versatile near-ground field prediction model is proposed to facilitate accurate wireless sensor network (WSN) simulations. Monte Carlo simulations are used to investigate the effects of antenna height, frequency of operation, polarization, and terrain dielectric and roughness properties on WSNs performance

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