Connectivity of Millimeter Wave Networks with Multi-hop Relaying

TL;DR

This paper introduces a stochastic geometry model for mmWave network connectivity with multi-hop relaying, revealing how obstacle density, size, and relaying range influence network performance.

Contribution

It develops a novel analytical framework modeling obstacles as a Boolean process and analyzes the impact of relaying strategies on connectivity in mmWave networks.

Findings

Multi-hop relaying significantly enhances connectivity compared to single-hop.

Optimal relaying route window size is approximately equal to obstacle size.

Connectivity depends critically on obstacle density, size, and relaying range.

Abstract

This paper presents a novel stochastic geometry approach to the connectivity of milimeter wave (mmWave) networks with multi-hop relaying. The random positions and shapes of obstacles in the radio environment are modeled as a Boolean model, whose germs are distributed according to a Poisson point process and grains are random rectangles. The derived analytical results shed light on how the connectivity of mmWave networks depends on key system parameters such as the density and size of obstacles as well as relaying route window -- the range of distances in which routing relays are selected. We find that multi-hop relaying can greatly improve the connectivity versus single hop mmWave transmission. We show that to obtain near-optimal connectivity the relaying route window should be about the size of the obstacles.