Near-Field Channel Characterization for Mid-band ELAA Systems: Sounding, Parameter Estimation, and Modeling

TL;DR

This paper develops a novel near-field channel sounder and models for mid-band ELAA systems, demonstrating measurement campaigns and parameter estimation at 16-20 GHz to address near-field effects like spherical wavefronts and spatial non-stationarity.

Contribution

It introduces a new channel sounding testbed and modeling framework for mid-band ELAA systems, enabling large-scale near-field channel measurements and analysis.

Findings

Successful measurement campaign at 16-20 GHz with 720-element array

Effective near-field channel parameter estimation demonstrated

Validation of spherical wavefront and non-stationarity effects in measurements

Abstract

6G communication will greatly benefit from using extremely large-scale antenna arrays (ELAAs) and new mid-band spectrums (7-24 GHz). These techniques require a thorough exploration of the challenges and potentials of the associated near-field (NF) phenomena. It is crucial to develop accurate NF channel models that include spherical wave propagation and spatial non-stationarity (SnS). However, channel measurement campaigns for mid-band ELAA systems have rarely been reported in the state-of-the-art. To this end, this work develops a channel sounder dedicated to mid-band ELAA systems based on a distributed modular vector network analyzer incorporating radio-over-fiber (RoF), phase compensation, and virtual antenna array schemes. This novel channel-sounding testbed based on off-the-shelf VNA has the potential to enable large-scale experimentation due to its generic and easy-accessible nature. The main challenges and solutions for developing NF channel models for mid-band ELAA systems are discussed, including channel sounders, multipath parameter estimation algorithms, and channel modeling frameworks. Besides, the study reports a measurement campaign in an indoor scenario using a 720-element virtual uniform circular array ELAA operating at {16-20} GHz, highlighting the presence of spherical wavefronts and spatial non-stationary effects. The effectiveness of the proposed near-field channel parameter estimator and channel modeling framework is also demonstrated using the measurement data.