Stationarity Region of Mm-Wave Channel Based on Outdoor Microcellular Measurements at 28 GHz

TL;DR

This paper presents the first extensive measurement of the stationarity region for MIMO mm-wave channels at 28 GHz, revealing significantly smaller regions compared to cm-waves, impacting system design.

Contribution

It introduces a novel measurement campaign and phased-array sounder to characterize the stationarity region of mm-wave channels in urban microcell environments.

Findings

Stationarity region is considerably smaller at 28 GHz than at cm-waves.

Results cover shadowing, power delay profile, and angular power spectrum.

Implications for system design due to reduced stationarity regions.

Abstract

The stationarity region, i.e., the area in which the statistics of a propagation channel remain constant, is an important measure of the propagation channel, and essential for efficient system design. This paper presents what is to our knowledge the first extensive measurement campaign for measuring the stationarity region of MIMO mm-wave channels. Using a novel 28 GHz phased-array sounder with high phase stability, we present results in an urban microcell LoS, and LOS to NLOS transition region scenario, for the stationarity region of shadowing, power delay profile, and the angular power spectrum. A comparison to results at cm-waves shows considerably reduced stationarity region size, which has an important impact on system design.