Suburban Fixed Wireless Access Channel Measurements and Models at 28 GHz for 90% Outdoor Coverage

TL;DR

This study presents extensive 28 GHz measurements in suburban areas, developing models for outdoor coverage and demonstrating that 1 Gbps connectivity up to 100 meters is feasible with specific antenna and power configurations.

Contribution

It provides new outdoor channel measurements and models at 28 GHz for suburban fixed wireless access, validating coverage and data rate capabilities.

Findings

Power-law path gain models fit measurements well.

Azimuth gain degradation exceeds 4.3 dB for 10% of links.

90% outdoor coverage with 1 Gbps at 100 m under specified conditions.

Abstract

Achieving adequate coverage with high gain antennas is key to realizing the full promise of the wide bandwidth available at cm/mm bands. We report extensive outdoor measurements at 28 GHz in suburban residential areas in New Jersey and Chile, with over 2000 links measured for same-street link types (vegetation blocked LOS) from 13 streets and other-street link types (true NLOS) from 7 streets, using a specialized narrowband channel sounder at ranges reaching 200 m. The measurements, applicable to fixed wireless access, involved a 55$^\circ$ transmit antenna placed on the exterior of a street-facing window and a 10$^\circ$ receive horn antenna spinning on top of a van mast at 3 m height, emulating a lamppost-mounted base station. Measured path gain-distance dependence is well represented by power-law models, and azimuth gains at the base are degraded through scattering by more than 4.3 dB for 10% of links. It was found that, with 51 dBm EIRP at the base station and 11 dBi antenna at an outdoor mounted terminal, 1 Gbps downlink rate can be delivered up to 100 m from a base station deployed in the same street with 90% coverage guarantee.