High-Resolution Delay Spread of Wide-Band Wireless Link in Long Tunnels—Theory and Experimental Verification

The need for wireless communication appears everywhere, and with as few interruptions as possible. An extensive and in-depth study has been conducted on the limitations of wireless communication in pedestrian tunnels. Using an analytical mathematical ray tracing model, and performing tunnel measurements, with an autonomous measuring setup, the model was validated. An extraordinary wide band was used for the experiments, which also featured optical systems to ensure accurate results. Since the tunnel is narrow, the differences between the different paths are small, and in order to distinguish them a resolution of 0.2 ns was used. The RMS delay spread, στ, decreases throughout the tunnel, and at no point exceeds 1 ns.