142 GHz Multipath Propagation Measurements and Path Loss Channel Modeling in Factory Buildings

TL;DR

This study conducts 142 GHz measurements in factory environments to develop path loss models and explore passive reflecting surfaces, advancing understanding of sub-THz wireless channels for industrial applications.

Contribution

It provides the first path loss models for 142 GHz indoor factory environments and evaluates passive reflecting surfaces for channel enhancement.

Findings

Path loss increases at lower RX heights in factory environments.

Passive reflecting surfaces can improve channel gain by up to 22 dB.

Distinct models for LOS and NLOS conditions at 142 GHz.

Abstract

This paper presents sub-Terahertz (THz) radio propagation measurements at 142 GHz conducted in four factories with various layouts and facilities to explore sub-THz wireless channels for smart factories in 6G and beyond. Here we study spatial and temporal channel responses at 82 transmitter-receiver (TX-RX) locations across four factories in the New York City area and over distances from 5 m to 85 m in both line-of-sight (LOS) and non-LOS (NLOS) environments. The measurements were performed with a sliding-correlation-based channel sounder with 1 GHz RF bandwidth with steerable directional horn antennas with 27 dBi gain and 8\degree~half-power beamwidth at both TX and RX, using both vertical and horizontal antenna polarizations, yielding over 75,000 directional power delay profiles. Channel measurements of two RX heights at 1.5 m (high) emulating handheld devices and at 0.5 m (low) emulating automated guided vehicles (AGVs) were conducted for automated industrial scenarios with various clutter densities. Results yield the first path loss models for indoor factory (InF) environments at 142 GHz and show the low RX height experiences a mean path loss increase of 10.7 dB and 6.0 dB when compared with the high RX height at LOS and NLOS locations, respectively. Furthermore, flat and rotatable metal plates were leveraged as passive reflecting surfaces (PRSs) in channel enhancement measurements to explore the potential power gain on sub-THz propagation channels, demonstrating a range from 0.5 to 22 dB improvement with a mean of 6.5 dB in omnidirectional channel gain as compared to when no PRSs are present.