Measurement-Based Characterization of 15 GHz Propagation Channels in a Laboratory Environment

In this paper, measurements in a laboratory characterizing the 15-GHz band propagation channels are introduced. Both an omnidirectional antenna (ODA) and a 10° half-power-beamwidth (HPBW) pyramidal horn antenna are deployed at the transmitter (Tx) in different measurements. The receiver (Rx) is equipped with a 10° HPBW horn antenna. A direction-scanning sounding method is applied by rotating the Rx horn antenna in steps of 5° to collect channel impulse responses (CIRs) in the angular domains. Clusters are extracted based on power concentration from the 3-D power spectrum in delay, azimuth, and zenith arrival angles. Each cluster represents the contribution of specular paths with similar delay, azimuth, and zenith arrival angles, and of the diffuse-scattering components spreading around these paths. The mapping of the propagation paths reconstructed from the extracted clusters to the physical interacting objects in the environment is found to be reasonable. Differences on channel characteristics are compared for both a horn antenna and an ODA at the Tx. Finally, a stochastic cluster model is provided based on five measurements in the laboratory for the case where the ODA is used at the Tx.