Sub-Terahertz Channel Measurements and Characterization in a Factory Building

TL;DR

This paper presents sub-THz channel measurements in a factory environment at 142 GHz, revealing rich scattering and polarization characteristics crucial for 6G wireless system development and factory automation applications.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed sub-THz channel measurements in a factory setting, analyzing polarization, delay, and angular spreads to inform 6G system design.

Findings

Mean cross-polarization discrimination of 27.7 dB

Maximum RMS delay spread of 66.0 ns

Maximum RMS angular spread of 103.7 degrees

Abstract

Sub-Terahertz (THz) frequencies between 100 GHz and 300 GHz are being considered as a key enabler for the sixth-generation (6G) wireless communications due to the vast amounts of unused spectrum. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) included the indoor industrial environments as a scenario of interest since Release 15. This paper presents recent sub-THz channel measurements using directional horn antennas of 27 dBi gain at 142 GHz in a factory building, which hosts equipment manufacturing startups. Directional measurements with co-polarized and cross-polarized antenna configurations were conducted over distances from 6 to 40 meters. Omnidirectional and directional path loss with two antenna polarization configurations produce the gross cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) with a mean of 27.7 dB, which suggests that dual-polarized antenna arrays can provide good multiplexing gain for sub-THz wireless systems. The measured power delay profile and power angular spectrum show the maximum root mean square (RMS) delay spread of 66.0 nanoseconds and the maximum RMS angular spread of 103.7 degrees using a 30 dB threshold, indicating the factory scenario is a rich-scattering environment due to a massive number of metal structures and objects. This work will facilitate emerging sub-THz applications such as super-resolution sensing and positioning for future smart factories.