Experimental Comparison of Indoor UHF and EHF Radio Channel Characteristics

Larbi Talbi
Dipartement dInformatique Universiti du Quibec i i Hull Hull, Qukbec, Canada, J8X 3x7 (talbi@uqah.uquebec.ca)

This paper reports experimental results obtained for narrowband and wideband indoor radio channels at 893 MHz and 37.2 GHz, respectively. Under LOS conditions and same scenarios, the multipath channel characteristics f for both frequency bands are compared in terms o distance-power law exponents and cumulative distribution functions (CDF) o f the CW measurement data, and roomean-square (RMS) delay spreads o f the impulse f the responses measurements. The results show the e$ect o carrier frequency on the multipath phenomenon, either by sustaining the signal power level leading to a propagation f the free space, or by increasing the loss less than that o RMS delay spread which limits the channel capacity.

I. Introduction
Indoor radio propagation has been an active area of research in recent years. UHF propagation measurements in and around buildings have been reported by several researchers[l-3]. For EHF band, some results are also available in the literature and are mainly limited to the indoor radio channel characterization[4,5]. To the best of our knowledge, there exist only a very few papers considering the comparison of these two bands. This has stimulated a particular interest for a comprehensive study of UHF and EHF bands by a systematic comparison of their experimental characterization in an indoor environment under the same conditions. The digital communication receivers must work in such environment which has multipath propagation, shadow fading, and moderate motion. These factors combine to give deep fades varying with time and physical motion, pulse spreading, and hence intersymbol interference[2]. At present the application of the millimeter frequency bands for indoor radio communications is the subject of
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much investigation. Advantages compared to the conventional UHF bands are the availability of high information transport capacity and the possibility of frequency re-use between neighboring rooms because of the severe attenuation of most inner walls at millimeterwave frequencies. To assess and understand these advantages, extensive narrowband and wideband measurements are conducted in different rooms at 893 MHz and 37.2 GHz. The comparison concerns the gradient loss and the cumulative distribution of CW data recorded under the same scenarios, and the Rh4S delay spreads collected over different areas in the same rooms. A brief description of our experiment setups is given in the below section followed by narrowband (CW or unmodulated carrier) and wideband (impulse response) measurement results obtained at both frequencies . discussed for the purpose of comparison. The last section concerns various conclusions.

I I . Experimental Procedure

A. Measurement Setup CW measurements are made using the experimental system shown in Figure 1. An F W synthesizer is used to generate either 893 MHz or 37.2 GHz. The former signal is obtained directly as a pure sine wave of 0 a m , whereas the latter is carried out from an 18.6 GHz signal, which is then amplified and doubled to get the 37.2 GHz operating frequency with a power level of 7 dBm. Both signals are transmitted via vertically polarized omnidirectional antennas located at height of 1.50 m above the floor level. These are U4 dipole and biconical horn antennas having gains of 3 dl3i and 0 dBi, respectively. The same types of antennas are used at the receiver. The UHF signal is directly detected via an RX900 receiver which uses an LO at 918 MHz to downconvert the RF signal to an IF

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frequency of 25 MHz with a bandwidth of approximately 5 MHz which then passes through a log amplifier. The output signal level is recorded via A/D converter on computer. For the EHF, the signal is preamplified with a 25 dB low-noise amplifier, then detected by the RX900 after its downconverting to an 893 MHz IF using a mixer, The receiver is mounted on an automatic tracking and drive system cart guided by a wire placed on the floor that determines the path. The cart is equipped with a position encoder controlling spatial sampling every 0.5 mm, and moves at a speed of 5 c d s approximately along the predetermined path[4,6]. Figure 2 shows the experimental system used for wideband impulse response measurements. It is a radarlike system operating at a frequency of 893 MHz with a OdBm output power modulated by a train of 5 ns pulses with a 3.4 ps repetition period. This is much longer than any delay observed in the tested rooms. Synchronization of both the transmitter and the receiver RF sources is achieved using the external reference inputs and outputs. Synchronous operation is made possible by running a 10 MHz reference signal from one synthesizer to the other. The received signal is preamplified by a low noise amplifier then sent to the RF port of a mixer. Baseband

signal is thus generated at the IF port of the mixer. The signal, having bandwidths in excess of 200MHz, is amplified and a video detector is applied to detect its envelope profile before being sampled (for bandwidth reduction) using a sampling oscilloscope which is triggered by a clock signal that is sent through a cable from the transmitter system. The appropriate modification have been introduced to the above setup to allow its operation at EHF band. In this case, the transmitter uses the train of 5 ns pulses to modulate a carrier frequency of 37.2 GHz which is obtained by amplifying and doubling the 18.6 GHz generated by a synthesizer. At the receiver, the preamplification is done using a chain of LNAs and the downconverting of the RF to get the baseband signal is done by mixing it with an LO at 37.2GH.z generated by a synthesizer. The envelope detection is then performed with the same setup as of UHF band (see Figure 2). The receiving oscilloscope and the personal computer are all triggered together as well as the pulse generator.

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Figure 1: CW Measurement System (UHFEHF).

Figure 2: Impulse Response Measurement System (UHFEHF).

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B. Description of the site The measurements are made on LOS propagation paths at the department of electrical and computer engineering of Laval University for different combinations of transmitter-receiver locations. Two typical rooms of the Radiocommunications and Signal Processing (LRTS) laboratory are selected and their plan is sketched in Figure 3. Room 1 is an empty narrow room. Room 2 is bigger and contains tables and standard test equipments as well as a Faraday cage of dimensions 2.5mX3.12mX2.5m and an air conditioning system. The floor is in cement tile, the site ceiling in metallic patches and the walls in rough plaster. It is important to note that behind the windows there are metallic grids (mosquito nets) which may cause strong reflections of the propagating wave.

External Wall

Glass Dwr

for the 37.2 GHz. It shows also deep fades in amplitude and quasiperiodic minima spaced about half-wavelength, i.e., 16.8 cm and 4 mm for 893 MHz and 37.2 GHz, respectively. The depth of the fading is in the average of 20 dE3 for 893 MHz whereas it is 40 dE3 for 37.2 GHz, this is due to the fact that the number of random reflections of EHF signals are greater than that of the UHF, consequently, on the one hand sustaining high signal level, in the case of constructive reflection combination with the LOS signal at the receiver antenna, on the other hand, deep fadings in the case of destructive reflection contributions. More explanations could be found from Figure 5,it shows the CDF of the CW data given on Figure 4. UHF band frequencies have the properties of propagating through the walls thus leading, in more instances, to small reflections from the surrounding area of the antenna, and in some instances, to weak reflections that may come from far scatterers. In other words, this means that the LOS component is either the dominant ray and the CDF of the data can be fitted by a log-normal distribution, or the LOS is the relatively dominant ray among a certain number of relatively strong reflection rays, and the CDF of the data follows then the Rice distribution[6]. It is well known that among the advantages of the EHF band frequencies is the severe attenuation experienced when the signal passes through walls, this in fact encourages the frequency re-use technique or the cellular architecture. So the signal propagation is confined inside the room, leading to a Rayleigh distribution that fits the CDF of the data since the LOS ray is received along with a large number of strong reflection rays.

Laboratory Table

Sianal obtainedat 893 MHr

Figure 3: The site were the measurements were conducted.

I I I I I I I

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6

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III. Narrowband Measurements

CW measurements inside the rooms revealed that, on the average, path loss increases according to a power law and is less than that of the free space(N=2). In order to determine the proper propagation exponent, a straight line curve fit is performed using a least mean square approximation on the median received signal power. For the data obtained at room 1 and shown on Figure 4, it is indicated that both frequencies and under the same conditions the path loss exponents are close to each other. At 893 MHz the gradient loss is of 1.66, and it is of 1.54
P

3.5 4 distance (m)

4.5

5.5

Signal obtainad at 37.2 GHr

-401

Gradient Loss N = 1.54

-1

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Figure 4: Received signal power versus distance.

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be encountered at 893MHz, whereas it is less than 125 ns for 37.2GHz. It should be noted that the peak due to the direct wave is accompanied by delayed waves due to reflection from the surrounding medium. These delayed paths decay exponentially. In many instances, the delaytime differences are so small (less than 5 ns) that the delayed signals cannot be clearly resolved in our measurements, and in some instances, the different multipath signals, arriving with different delays, are resolved. The impulse response of the radio channel yields useful information about its capacity. The root meansquare (RMS)time delay spread of the impulse response can be related to intersymbol interference present in the channel. Intersymbol interference limits the usable digital signaling rate in the medium for a given error rate. Actually, the R M S delay-spread is inversely proportional to the maximum usable data rate of a channel. It is computed as the square root of the second central moment of an averaged power delay profile. Figure 7 shows the combined cumulative distribution functions of RMS delay spread values resulting from the total measurements collected in the undertest rooms for both 893 MHz and 37.2 GHz carrier frequencies. It appears that RMS delayspread value (0)tend to increase with decreasing carrier frequency. At 37.2 GHz the worst case of (T is about 44 ns, however, it is of 122 ns at 893 MHz carrier frequency.
lime response at 893 MHz
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Figure 5: Cumulative distributions of typical measurments and their fit to various dismbtuions.

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Time response at 37.2 GHz

IV. Wideband Measurements

The transmitter power and the oscilloscope vertical scale setting were adjusted so that largest multipaths had near full-scale display deflection. A sample of results is given on Figure 6 for amplitudes of impulse response delay profiles. The ordinate in each part is normalized to the peak level corresponding to the direct wave from the transmitter to the receiver. The results indicate that peakto-peak time delay variations on the order of 350 ns may

excess delay (ns)

Figure 6: Impulse response profiles of typical measurments.

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Figure 7: Cumulative distributions of RMS delay spreads.

Antennas and Propagation, pp. 1058-1069, Vol. 37, NO. 8, Aug. 1989. [3]D. M.J. Devasirvatham, Multipath Time Delay Jitter Measred at 850 MHz in the Portable Radio Environment, , ZEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Vol. 5 , NO. 5, June 1987. [4]L. Talbi, G.Y. Delisle, Experimental Characterization of EHF Multipath Indoor Radio Channels, ZEEE Joumal on Selected Areas in Communications, Vol. 14, NO. 3, April 1996. [5]A.R. Tharek, J.P. McGeehan, Indoor Propagation and Bit Error Rate Measurements at 60GHz Using Phaselocked Oscillators, Proc. ZEEE Vehicular Technology Conference,pp.127-133, May 1988. [6] L. Talbi, G.Y. Delisle Using Directive Antennas to Reduce Multipath Fading in Indoor Wireless PCN Systems, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, Zntemtional Symposium, Orlando, Florida, pp.24482451, July 11-16, 1999.

V. Conclusion
A comparative study at 893 MHz and 37.2 GHz have been undertaken in an indoor environment. From the analysis of these results, it appears that the wall reflections affect both channels. In fact, at 37.2 GHz these reflections introduce very fast fadings which can be combatted by space diversity, whereas, at 893 MHz the multipath channel encounters less reflections leading to very slow fadings but having large widths which may cause large silent zones. The efficient diversity technique, in this case, may be the frequency diversity. . It is also interesting to note that measurements at 893 MHz and 37.2 GHz give an idea on what effect carrier frequency has on an indoor radio propagation. One would expect that the delay spread would decrease with frequency due to increased attenuation by the structure. Based on the maximum RMS time delay spread of 122 ns, for a channel using a carrier of 893 MHz, the channel capacity of 0.82 MSymboYs could be used with a low probability of error, however, with a carrier frequency of 37.2 GHz the channel capacity of the same environment increases to 2.27 MSymboVs.

References
[ 11 Homayoun Hashemi, The Indoor Radio Propagation

Channel, Proceedings of ZEEE, Vol. 81, No. 7, pp. 941967, July 1993. [2]T.S. Rappaport, Characterization of UHF Multipath Radio Channels in Factory Buildings, ZEEE Trans. on

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