Direct assessment of channel characteristics for a multi-carrier millimeter-wave communication system

A method to directly assess the channel characteristics of a multi-carrier millimeter-wave communication system is presented by observing the in-band intermodulation exhibited by the signal recovered by the receiver when the system is excited by a multi-carrier IF input to the transmitter, the co-channel interference can be quantified enabling the bounds for signal degradation to be estimated. The measurement procedures are rapid and require only standard microwave equipment. Results of measurement indicate that the current millimeter-wave technology provides excellent support for the implementation of large-capacity wireless communication systems with channels that are linear and nondispersive.