Analysis of Blocking in mmWave Cellular Systems: Characterization of the LOS and NLOS Intervals in Urban Scenarios

TL;DR

This paper characterizes the statistical lengths of LOS and NLOS segments in urban mmWave environments, aiding the understanding of blockage effects for 5G systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel statistical characterization of LOS and NLOS intervals considering random building placements and dimensions in urban scenarios.

Findings

LOS and NLOS segment lengths are statistically modeled.

Urban building configurations significantly impact blockage patterns.

Results support improved modeling of mmWave propagation in cities.

Abstract

In the millimeter waves (mmWave) bands considered for 5G and beyond, the use of very high frequencies results in the interruption of communication whenever there is no line of sight between the transmitter and the receiver. Blockages have been modeled in the literature so far using tools such as stochastic geometry and random shape theory. Using these tools, in this paper, we characterize the lengths of the segments in line-of-sight (LOS) and in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) statistically in an urban scenario where buildings (with random positions, lengths, and heights) are deployed in parallel directions configuring streets.