In-building coverage of millimeter-wave wireless networks from channel measurement and modeling perspectives

To progress cost-effective deployment of millimeter-wave (mmWave) wireless networks for indoor users, the prediction of indoor-to-indoor (I2I) and outdoor-to-indoor (O2I) coverage based on field measurement studies is of great interest to the future generation mobile communication system. First, measurements in I2I and O2I scenarios, which have advantages in terms of achieving a fair comparison of channel characteristics across different mmWave bands and bandwidths, are performed. Next, the developed dual-slope path loss model with a break-point distance is found to well fit omnidirectional and directional measured I2I data, especially at 39.5 GHz, revealing that the transition from lit or shadow regions to totally blocked regions is abrupt. Combined with space-time propagation characteristics, the indoor blockage effect on path loss and angular spread is investigated, therein being essential for the design of beam-steering and tracking algorithms. Double-directional measurement results show that most dominant paths arrive along the line-of-sight path, and only a few in-building reflections can be detected in higher frequency bands. Based on the joint analysis of channel measurement and modeling results, several mmWave network design and in-building coverage enhancement insights are presented.