An Open Framework to Model Diffraction by Dynamic Blockers in Millimeter Wave Simulations

TL;DR

This paper introduces an open framework for modeling how dynamic physical blockers affect millimeter wave signals, addressing a key challenge in mmWave communication systems with a diffraction-based approach.

Contribution

It presents a novel open-source software framework that models diffraction effects of multiple dynamic blockers in mmWave environments, integrating with RF ray-tracing tools.

Findings

Effective modeling of dynamic blockers in mmWave channels

Open-source implementation available for researchers

Improves accuracy of blockage prediction in simulations

Abstract

The millimeter wave (mmWave) band will be exploited to address the growing demand for high data rates and low latency. The higher frequencies, however, are prone to limitations on the propagation of the signal in the environment. Thus, highly directional beamforming is needed to increase the antenna gain. Another crucial problem of the mmWave frequencies is their vulnerability to blockage by physical obstacles. To this aim, we studied the problem of modeling the impact of second-order effects on mmWave channels, specifically the susceptibility of the mmWave signals to physical blockers. With respect to existing works on this topic, our project focuses on scenarios where mmWaves interact with multiple, dynamic blockers. Our open source software includes diffraction-based blockage models and interfaces directly with an open source Radio Frequency (RF) ray-tracing software.