This paper describes analytical results obtained for floor penetration loss characteristics and their frequency dependency by measurements in multiple frequency bands, including those above 6GHz, in an indoor office environment. Measurement and analysis results confirm that the floor penetration loss depends on two dominant components: the transmission path through floors, and the path traveling through the outside building. We also clarify that these dominant paths have different path loss characteristics and frequency dependency. The transmission path through floors rapidly attenuates with large inter-floor offsets and in high frequency bands. On the other hand, the path traveling through outside of the building attenuates monotonically as the frequency increases. Therefore, the transmission path is dominant at short inter-floor offsets and low frequencies, and the path traveling through the outside is dominant at high number of floors or high frequency. Finally, we clarify that the floor penetration loss depends on the frequency dependency of the dominant path on the basis of the path loss characteristics of each dominant path.

Path loss in high frequency bands above 6GHz is the most fundamental and significant propagation characteristic of IMT-2020. To develop and evaluate such high frequency bands, ITU-R SG5 WP5D recently released channel models applicable up to 100GHz. The channel models include path loss models applicable to 0.5-100GHz. A path loss model is used for cell design and the evaluation of the radio technologies, which is the main purpose of WP5D. Prediction accuracy in various locations, Tx positions, frequency bands, and other parameters are significant in cell design. This article presents the prediction accuracy of UMa path loss models which are detailed in Report ITU-R M.2412 for IMT-2020. We also propose UMa_A' as an extension model of UMa_A. While UMa_A applies different equations to the bands below and above 6GHz to predict path loss, UMa_A' covers all bands by using the equations of UMa_A below 6GHz. By using the UMa_A' model, we can predict path loss by taking various parameters (such as BS antenna height) into account over a wide frequency range (0.5-100GHz). This is useful for considering the deployment of BS antennas at various positions with a wide frequency band. We verify model accuracy by extensive measurements in the frequency bands from 2 to 66GHz, distances up to 1600 m, and an UMa environment with three Tx antenna heights. The UMa_A' extension model can predict path loss with the low RMSE of about 7dB at 2-26.4GHz, which is more accurate than the UMa_A and UMa_B models. Although the applicability of the UMa_A' model at 66GHz is unclear and needs further verification, the evaluation results for 66GHz demonstrate that the antenna height may affect the prediction accuracy at 66GHz.

This paper proposed that a path loss model for outdoor-to-indoor corridor is presented to construct next generation mobile communication systems. The proposed model covers the frequency range of millimeter wave bands up to 40GHz and provides three dimensional incident angle characteristics. Analysis of path loss characteristics is conducted by ray tracing. We clarify that the paths reflected multiple times between the external walls of buildings and then diffracted into one of the buildings are dominant. Moreover, we also clarify how the paths affect the path loss dependence on frequency and three dimensional incident angle. Therefore, by taking these dependencies into consideration, the proposed model decreases the root mean square errors of prediction results to within about 2 to 6dB in bands up to 40GHz.

This paper proposes a transparent glass quartz antenna for 5G-millimeter-wave-connected vehicles and clarifies the characteristics of signal reception when the glass antennas are placed on the windows of a vehicle traveling in an urban environment. Synthetic fused quartz is a material particularly suited for millimeter-wave devices owing to its excellent low transmission loss. Realizing synthetic fused quartz devices requires accurate micromachining technology specialized for the material coupled with the material technology. This paper presents a transparent antenna comprising a thin mesh pattern on a quartz substrate for installation on a vehicle window. A comparison of distributed transparent antennas and an omnidirectional antenna shows that the relative received power of the distributed antenna system is higher than that of the omnidirectional antenna. In addition, results show that the power received is similar when using vertically and horizontally polarized antennas. The design is verified in a field test using transparent antennas on the windows of a real vehicle.

This paper proposes a radio propagation prediction method that uses point cloud data based on a hybrid of the ray-tracing (RT) method and an effective roughness (ER) model in urban environments for the fifth generation mobile communications system using high frequency bands. The proposed prediction method incorporates propagation characteristics that consider diffuse scattering from surface irregularities. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by comparisons of measurement and prediction results gained from the proposed method and a conventional RT method based on power delay and angular profiles. From predictions based on the power delay and angular profiles, we find that the proposed method, assuming the roughness of σh=1mm, accurately predicts the propagation characteristics in the 20GHz band for urban line-of-sight environments. The prediction error for the delay spread is 2.1ns to 9.7ns in an urban environment.

This paper presents the characteristics of path loss produced by traffic sign blockage. Multi frequency bands including high frequency bands up to 40 GHz are analyzed on the basis of measurement results in urban microcell environments. It is shown that the measured path loss increases compared to free space path loss even on a straight line-of-sight road, and that the excess attenuation is caused by the blockage effects of traffic signs. It is also shown that the measurement area affected by the blockage becomes small as frequency increases. The blocking object occupies the same area for all frequencies, but it takes up a larger portion of the Fresnel Zone as frequency increases. Therefore, if blockage occurs, the excess loss in high frequency bands becomes larger than in low frequency bands. In addition, the validity of two blockage path loss models is verified on the basis of measurement results. The first is the 3GPP blockage model and the second is the proposed blockage model, which is an expanded version of the basic diffraction model in ITU-R P.526. It is shown that these blockage models can predict the path loss increased by the traffic sign blockage and that their root mean square error can be improved compared to that of the 3GPP two slope model and a free space path loss model. The 3GPP blockage model is found to be more accurate for 26.4 and 37.1GHz, while the proposed model is more accurate for 0.8, 2.2, and 4.7GHz. The results show the blockage path loss due to traffic signs is clarified in a wide frequency range, and it is verified that the 3GPP blockage model and the proposed blockage model can accurately predict the blockage path loss.

This paper proposes a path loss model for crowded outdoor environments that can consider the density of people. Measurement results in an anechoic chamber with three blocking persons showed that multiple human body shadowing can be calculated by using finite width screens. As a result, path loss in crowded environments can be calculated by using the path losses of the multipath and the multiple human body shadowing on those paths. The path losses of the multipath are derived from a ray tracing simulation, and the simulation results are then used to predict the path loss in crowded environments. The predicted path loss of the proposed model was examined through measurements in the crowded outdoor station square in front of Shibuya Station in Tokyo, and results showed that it can accurately predict the path loss in crowded environments at the frequencies of 4.7GHz and 26.4GHz under two different conditions of antenna height and density of people. The RMS error of the proposed model was less than 4dB.

This paper describes the results of outdoor mobility measurements and high-speed vehicle tests that clarify the 4-by-8 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) throughput performance when applying distributed MIMO with narrow antenna-beam tracking in a 28-GHz frequency band in the downlink of a 5G cellular radio access system. To clarify suitable transmission point (TP) deployment for mobile stations (MS) moving at high speed, we examine two arrangements for 3TPs. The first sets all TPs in a line along the same side of the path traversed by the MS, and the other sets one TP on the other side of the path. The experiments in which the MS is installed on a moving wagon reveal that the latter deployment case enables a high peak data rate and high average throughput performance exhibiting the peak throughput of 15Gbps at the vehicle speed of 3km/h. Setting the MS in a vehicle travelling at 30km/h yielded the peak throughput of 13Gbps. The peak throughput of 11Gbps is achieved at the vehicle speed of 100km/h, and beam tracking and intra-baseband unit hand over operation are successfully demonstrated even at this high vehicle speed.