Alsaleem Fahd, Ragheb Amr, Alhassoon Khaled, Alsunaydih Fahad, Alshebeili Saleh
Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah, 52571, Saudi Arabia.
Electrical Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sci Rep. 2024 Aug 20;14(1):19283. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-70119-w.
Millimeter wave (mmWave) technologies at 60 GHz and 100 GHz bands are currently gaining significant attention for its potential to meet the demanding needs of next-generation networks. These include ultra-high data rate, ultra-low latency, high spectral efficiency, and high end-to-end reliability. However, mmWave signals' blockage remains a critical issue that affects the reliability of mmWave at 60 GHz and at 100 GHz bands due to the significant attenuations induced by the blockers (BLs). Not only blockers that have the size of a human body or even larger can affect the signal, but also smaller objects with much narrower dimensions, as narrow as 4 cm, can severely affect the signal strength and introduce an attenuation that reaches up to 12 dB at 100 GHz. In this paper we have conducted new measurements and presented results for three small copper sheets at each frequency band, aiming to investigate the blockage effect of small-sized metal objects on signal strength at these two frequency bands. Also, we have examined the performance of the knife-edge diffraction (KED) blockage model of the third-generation partnership project (3GPP) standards body and its evolved version named the mmMAGIC blockage model in such scenarios. Furthermore, we investigated the applicability of the two blockage models in capturing the attenuation characteristics of other materials-such as wood and glass. Experimental results supported by numerical models have shown that the induced peak attenuations are 5(12) dB, 10(23) dB, 23(23) dB for 4 4 cm, 8 8 cm, 16 16 cm copper blockers, respectively, at 60(100) GHz mmWave bands. Also, we have shown that both the 3GPP and mmMAGIC simulation models fail to accurately capture the attenuation characteristics of materials other than copper. The findings of this work highlight the importance of considering the dimensions and types of blockages when deploying reliable mmWave and sub-THz communications.
60吉赫兹和100吉赫兹频段的毫米波（mmWave）技术目前因其满足下一代网络苛刻需求的潜力而备受关注。这些需求包括超高数据速率、超低延迟、高频谱效率和高的端到端可靠性。然而，毫米波信号的阻塞仍然是一个关键问题，由于障碍物（BLs）引起的显著衰减，它会影响60吉赫兹和100吉赫兹频段毫米波的可靠性。不仅人体大小甚至更大的障碍物会影响信号，而且尺寸更窄（窄至4厘米）的较小物体也会严重影响信号强度，并在100吉赫兹时引入高达12分贝的衰减。在本文中，我们在每个频段对三块小铜片进行了新的测量并展示了结果，旨在研究小尺寸金属物体对这两个频段信号强度的阻塞效应。此外，我们还研究了第三代合作伙伴计划（3GPP）标准组织的刃边衍射（KED）阻塞模型及其在这种场景下的演进版本mmMAGIC阻塞模型的性能。此外，我们研究了这两种阻塞模型在捕捉其他材料（如木材和玻璃）衰减特性方面的适用性。数值模型支持的实验结果表明，在60（100）吉赫兹毫米波频段，对于4×4厘米、8×8厘米、16×16厘米的铜质障碍物，分别产生的峰值衰减为5（12）分贝、10（23）分贝、23（23）分贝。此外，我们还表明，3GPP和mmMAGIC仿真模型都无法准确捕捉除铜以外材料的衰减特性。这项工作的研究结果突出了在部署可靠的毫米波和亚太赫兹通信时考虑阻塞尺寸和类型的重要性。
