Leti, a research institute of CEA Tech, presented a paper at the 11th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP) on March 21 that characterizes the propagation channel in the V and E-bands for indoor scenarios. The paper is one of 15 that Leti researchers presented at the March 19-24 conference in Paris.
Classic frequency bands for mobile communications systems below 6 GHz cannot meet throughput and other requirements of future broadband communications due to network congestion and limited bandwidth. But the vast majority of demand for broadband communications can be met using the mmWave spectrum. This portion of spectrum offers a wide amount of bandwidth that will enable multi-gigabit-per-second data transmission for next-generation 5G wireless systems. A key outcome at the Word Radio Conference 2015 (WRC-15) was identification of a number of bands between 20-90 GHz as 5G frequency candidates to be studied.
In this context, the standardization and design of future communications systems using these bands will require a thorough understanding of the radio channel and its propagation characteristics.
The paper, A Comparison of Indoor Channel Properties in V and E Bands, which is a finalist for the best paper award in propagation, reports recent Leti results in this field. It presents wideband channel measurements in the 59-65 GHz and 80.5-86.5 GHz frequency bands.
Measurements were performed by means of mechanical steering of directive antennas at both transmitter and receiver sides, allowing a double-directional angular characterization. For each band, researchers compared propagation characteristics such as the path loss and multipath clusters’ properties in the delay and angular domains.
“These results highlight the differences and similarities between the two bands, defining a mmWave channel model, which is crucial for the deployment of future 5G networks,” said Raffaele D’Errico, an author of the paper. “These mmWave bands can be used to carry a significant share of the data load in those networks.”
Leti’s team at EuCAP also demonstrated what's new on propagation modeling, miniature and integrated antenna development, and beamforming antenna techniques. They showcased about 15 demonstrations of different antenna solutions for a wide range of applications, including an intra-body communication device, reconfigurable transmit arrays and optimized miniature antenna solutions for IoT applications.