Spherical Coverage Characterization of 5G Millimeter Wave User Equipment With 3GPP Specifications

Abstract

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency bands are promising candidate spectrum for the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, but it requires high directional antenna systems to be applied to the base station and the user equipment (UE) for compensating the high path loss. Due to the randomness of mobile wireless channels, antenna systems in a mobile UE must own a large spherical coverage, which raises new challenges for the performance characterization of 5G mmWave UEs. In the latest specification of the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the requirement on UE’s spherical coverage in mmWave frequencies is defined, which is evaluated with the cumulative distribution function of the effective isotropic radiated power. In this paper, the spherical coverage of mmWave UEs is characterized based on the specification of 3GPP, where the impact of device integration, antenna topologies, and user body blockage on the spherical coverage of UE will be analyzed with simulation and measurement results.

Keywords

• Antenna arrays
• beam steering
• coverage efficiency
• mobile handsets
• mobile user equipment
• spherical coverage