Sub-THz VNA-based Channel Sounder Structure and Channel Measurements at 100 and 300 GHz

Sub-THz, i.e. frequency range 100 - 300 GHz, frequency bands have attracted huge interest in recent years for beyond 5G communication and high data-rate applications, due to its large available frequency bandwidth. In this work, we presented two vector network analyzer (VNA) based channel sounder systems, operating at the frequency range of 75-110 GHz and 220-330 GHz, respectively. The focus is on the channel sounder structure, link budget as well as system calibration performance. Moreover, we presented a simple wideband directional measurement in a rich scattering laboratory scenario with the two discussed channel sounders. The results showed that similar dominant multipath components (MPCs) can be observed in the two frequency bands, yet many more weak MPCs can be seen at 100 GHz, compared to results at 300 GHz.