Millimeter Wave Channel Characterization for 5G Cellular Systems in the UAE at the 28 GHz Band

Abstract

The rapid increase in wireless communication services and the need for higher data rate communications have pushed people towards adopting fifth generation (5G) cellular systems. One of the new technologies to be used in 5G is using the millimeter wave (mm-wave) band for the carrier signals. Though mm-waves are expected to cover the needed bandwidth and data rate, they suffer from higher losses and scattering from more objects within the radio channel than the currently used frequencies. For this reason, the effect of the channel should be studied well before implementing 5G technology to be able to design 5G systems and know their capabilities. This is done by conducting large-scale, small-scale, penetration loss and reflectivity channel measurements. Many measurements have been conducted for mm-wave channel characteristics in different parts of the world. However, no measurements have been reported in environments similar to that in the UAE. Thus, in this work, large-scale, small-scale and penetration loss measurements were conducted in the UAE; the study covers many aspects of wireless channel characteristics. The measurements were conducted from April 2018 until April 2019 in the American University of Sharjah’s campus. A narrow-band wireless communication setup and a wideband wireless setup have been assembled. Path loss measurements were conducted in labs, corridors, building rotunda, halls and outdoor areas using 28 GHz band. The measurements revealed that the path loss exponent is mostly around that would be observed in a free space model and that is aligned with measurements reported in the literature. In addition to that, penetration and reflection measurements were conducted for building material used in the UAE. Finally, wideband channel impulse response measurements were conducted in the 24 GHz band with a signal bandwidth of 250 MHz. The power delay profile and channel delay spread results show that the maximum RMS delay spread observed was about 247 ns and 433 ns for indoor and outdoor environments, respectively.