MmWave Physical Layer Network Modeling and Planning for Fixed Wireless Access Applications

Abstract

The large bandwidths that are available at millimeter-wave frequencies enable fixed wireless access (FWA) applications, in which fixed point-to-point wireless links are used to provide internet connectivity. In FWA networks, a wireless mesh is created and data are routed from the customer premises equipment (CPE) towards the point of presence (POP), which is the interface with the wired internet infrastructure. The performance of the wireless links depends on the radio propagation characteristics, as well as the wireless technology that is used. The radio propagation characteristics depend on the environment and on the considered frequency. In this work, we analyzed the network characteristics of FWA networks using radio propagation models for different wireless technologies using millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies of 28 GHz, 60 GHz, and 140 GHz. Different scenarios and environments were considered, and the influence of rain, vegetation, and the number of subscribers was investigated. A network planning algorithm is presented that defines a route for each CPE towards the POP based on a predefined location of customer devices and considering the available capacity of the wireless links. Rain does not have a considerable effect on the system capacity. Even though the higher frequencies exhibit a larger path loss, resulting in a lower power of the received signal, the larger bandwidths enable a higher channel capacity.

A Flexible mmWave Layer 2 Protocol Implementation for Integrated Access and Backhaul Architecture

“…According to the 3GPP standard [18], IAB architectures can improve the spectral efficiency (SE) and reduce the communication delay without any requirement for the guard time/band in comparison with the standardized LTE relay nodes, however, the end-to-end packet delay may greatly increase due to the multi-hop transmission, so this limitation is one of the main aspects currently tackled in 3GPP Release-18, particularly for mobility scenarios [23]. Besides, the IAB architectures take advantage of the increased bandwidth available on mmWave systems [24], [25]. Another benefit is the higher flexibility in terms of wireless network deployment and configuration with respect to the 4G networks deployed in mmWave bands [26], [27].…”