Study of Realistic Antenna Patterns in 5G mmWave Cellular Scenarios

TL;DR

This paper emphasizes the importance of using realistic antenna radiation patterns in 5G mmWave simulations to accurately assess system performance and guide network design.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of how different antenna radiation patterns impact 5G mmWave system performance and highlights the necessity of realistic modeling.

Findings

Realistic antenna patterns significantly influence 5G mmWave performance.

Using simplified models can lead to inaccurate system assessments.

Accurate radiation models are essential for proper system dimensioning.

Abstract

Large antenna arrays and millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies have been attracting growing attention as possible candidates to meet the high requirements of future 5G mobile networks. In view of the large path loss attenuation in these bands, beamforming techniques that create a beam in the direction of the user equipment are essential to perform the transmission. For this purpose, in this paper, we aim at characterizing realistic antenna radiation patterns, motivated by the need to properly capture mmWave propagation behaviors and understand the achievable performance in 5G cellular scenarios. In particular, we highlight how the performance changes with the radiation pattern used. Consequently, we conclude that it is crucial to use an accurate and realistic radiation model for proper performance assessment and system dimensioning.