Geometrical Study of Millimeter-Wave Communication Area Covered by an Antenna Array

Because of the severe attenuation property, the communication area size of the millimeter-wave (mmWave) band is much smaller than that of the sub-6 GHz band, and the mmWave antennas must be placed at higher density, which means that a strong cost constraint is imposed on the system design. This paper aims to provide guidelines for the development of mmWave 28 GHz antenna devices by geometrically clarifying, via a numerical simulation, the number of antenna elements, the power supply, and the antenna installation conditions required for a 1000 m 2 coverage of the "nano-area". The simulation results, assuming a simple line-of-sight situation with no blockages or reflectors, show that the coverage area over 1000 m 2 requires at least a power supply P_{0}=1, 3, 4 and 8 dBm for 8\times 8 -, 8\times 4 -, 8\times 2 -, and 8\times 1 -element antenna arrays, respectively, for an antenna height H=1.5 and 4.5 m and a received power sensitivity of -70 dBm. We conclude that these parameter results of the number of elements, the power supply, and the antenna height for "nano-area" coverage are important for the system design of mmWave antenna placement.