Page 43 - ITU Journal: Volume 2, No. 1 - Special issue - Propagation modelling for advanced future radio systems - Challenges for a congested radio spectrum

ITU Journal: ICT Discoveries, Vol. 2(1), December 2019

IRACON PROPAGATION MEASUREMENTS AND CHANNEL MODELS FOR 5G AND BEYOND
Sana Salous , Fredrik Tufvesson , Kenan Turbic , Luis M. Correia , Thomas Kürner , Diego Dupleich , Christian Schneider ,
1
3
2
3
4
5
5
Daniel Czaniera , Belen Montenegro Villacieros
6
5
1 Durham University, UK, Lund University, Sweden, IST/INESC-ID-University of Lisbon, Portugal, Technische Universität
2
4
3
Braunschweig, Germany, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Germany, European Commission Joint Research Centre, Italy
6
5

Abstract – Several frequency bands and system architectures are proposed for 5G and beyond to meet the
higher data rates for point-to-point communication and point-to-area coverage. In this paper, we present
radio propagation studies and models developed in typical scenarios for massive antenna deployment and
body area networks, in frequency bands below 6 GHz, building entry loss and clutter loss and vehicular
communication, in the millimeter wave bands, and models in the Terahertz for 5G and beyond.
Keywords – Body Area Network, Building Entry Loss, Channel Model, Clutter Loss, COST IRACON,
Massive MIMO, mm Wave, Terahertz, Vehicle to Vehicle

inside the body, along its surface, involving an
1. INTRODUCTION external access point (AP), or traversing the
boundary between in and outside the body.
The European Cooperation in Science and
Technology, (COST) action on inclusive The COST IRACON empirical off-body channel
radiocommunication networks for 5G and beyond model is composed of a log-distance mean path loss
(IRACON) aims to develop more accurate radio (MPL) and two fading components, as given in (1).
channel models for inclusive deployment scenarios.
The particulars of millimeter wave propagation in
various frequency bands identified by the World
Radiocommunication Conference in 2015 (WRC15)
and massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)
channels below 6 GHz are of immense interest to
achieve the anticipated higher data rates for future
radio networks.

Several research groups developed custom-
designed radio channel sounders, and performed Fig. 1 – BAN configurations
measurements to develop suitable models. In this [ ] = ( ) + 10 ( / ) + +
0
0
0

paper, radio propagation measurements and (1)
models developed within the COST IRACON action
are presented. These include body area networks where d is the distance between the transmitter (Tx)
(BAN), indoor and outdoor massive MIMO below 6 and receiver (Rx), ( ) is the MPL at the reference
0
0
GHz, vehicle-to-vehicle channels for millimeter distance (usually 1 m), is the path-loss

0
wave and below 6 GHz, millimeter wave clutter loss exponent, ∆ and ∆ are the large and small-scale

(CL), building entry loss (BEL) and terahertz (THz) fading components, represented by independent
communication. random variables. Large-scale fading exhibits a log-
normal distribution, whereas small-scale fading
2. BODY AREA NETWORK CHANNEL distributions include Rice, Nakagami-m, Rayleigh
MODELS and log-normal distributions. Model parameters at
In BAN communication scenarios, data are 2.45 GHz, obtained from several measurements are
exchanged with devices inside the human body, on summarized in Table 1, where [dB] (log-mean)
it, or in its close surroundings as in Fig. 1. One and [dB] (log-standard deviation) are the
distinguishes in, on, off and into-body channels, parameters for the log-normal distribution, and
considering whether communication takes place (shape) and Ω (scale) are the Nakagami

© International Telecommunication Union, 2019 27