An Ultra-Wideband Study of Vegetation Impact on Upper Midband / FR3 Communication

TL;DR

This study investigates how vegetation affects signal propagation in the 6-18 GHz range of the upper mid-band spectrum, introducing models to quantify vegetation-induced losses for improved network design.

Contribution

It presents a new method for estimating vegetation depth and a model to quantify vegetation-induced attenuation across 6-18 GHz frequencies.

Findings

Vegetation loss increases with depth and frequency.

The proposed model accurately predicts vegetation-induced attenuation.

Insights aid in designing foliage-aware communication networks.

Abstract

Growing demand for high data rates is driving interest in the upper mid-band (FR 3) spectrum (6-24 GHz). While some propagation measurements exist in literature, the impact of vegetation on link performance remains under-explored. This study examines vegetation-induced losses in an urban scenario across 6-18 GHz. A simple method for calculating vegetation depth is introduced, along with a model that quantifies additional attenuation based on vegetation depth and frequency, divided into 1 GHz sub-bands. We see that excess vegetation loss increases with vegetation depth and higher frequencies. These findings provide insights for designing reliable, foliage-aware communication networks in FR 3.