Terahertz Channel Measurement and Analysis on a University Campus Street

TL;DR

This study conducts extensive wideband channel measurements in the 306-321 GHz and 356-371 GHz bands on a university campus street, revealing key propagation characteristics and the sparsity of multipath components at THz frequencies.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed THz channel measurement and analysis in an outdoor campus environment, highlighting unique propagation features at these frequencies.

Findings

THz channels exhibit sparse multipath components.

Path loss and shadow fading are characterized at 306-321 GHz and 356-371 GHz.

Smaller power spreads in temporal and spatial domains are observed at THz frequencies.

Abstract

Owning abundant bandwidth resource, the Terahertz (0.1-10 THz) band is a promising spectrum to support sixth-generation (6G) and beyond communications. As the foundation of channel study in the spectrum, channel measurement is ongoing in covering representative 6G communication scenarios and promising THz frequency bands. In this paper, a wideband channel measurement in an L-shaped university campus street is conducted at 306-321 GHz and 356-371 GHz. In particular, ten line-of-sight (LoS) and eight non-line-of-sight (NLoS) points are measured at the two frequency bands, respectively. In total, 6480 channel impulse responses (CIRs) are obtained from the measurement, based on which multi-path propagation in the L-shaped roadway in the THz band is elaborated to identify major scatterers of walls, vehicles, etc. in the environment and their impact on multi-path components (MPCs). Furthermore, outdoor THz channel characteristics in the two frequency bands are analyzed, including path losses, shadow fading, cluster parameters, delay spread and angular spread. In contrast with the counterparts in the similar outdoor scenario at lower frequencies, the results verify the sparsity of MPCs at THz frequencies and indicate smaller power spreads in both temporal and spatial domains in the THz band.