mmWave channel sounder based on COTS instruments for 5G and indoor channel measurement

5G, the new generation of mobile networks, attracts lots of interests and attentions in wireless communication with its aggressive performance goals. To be able to provide much higher data rate than today, 5G mobile networks will operate at frequencies higher than the crowded frequency bands used today, with broader bandwidth. Understanding the propagation characteristics of the wireless channel under the new frequency bands is essential for the research of 5G mobile networks. This requires a channel sounder (CS) system for channel measurement and modeling. To meet the 5G performance goals, 5G channel sounder is required to support mmWave frequency bands, ultra-broad bandwidth and massive multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO). These requirements can be very challenging for design and implementation. In this paper, we provide a novel mmWave channel sounder architecture which can use commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) instruments to set up the system with high performance and reliability to meet 5G channel sounder requirements. We show validation test results to prove the mmWave channel sounder system performance. 1GHz bandwidth SISO channel measurement campaign in open office has been done at 26GHz.

I. Introduction

5G mobile networks provides a very attractive vision for the future wireless communication such as 100 times data rate improvement, 1000 times channel capacity enlargement, and 99.999% reliability, etc.. With these aggressive performance goals, the 5G mobile networks will surely incorporate key techniques like mmWave frequencies, ultra-broad bandwidths and massive MIMO. All these techniques require a clear understanding to the propagation characteristics of the over-the-air radio channels at higher frequencies rather than in the crowded frequency bands used today. Thus the channel sounder, which preforms channel propagation characteristics measurement, is essential for 5G research.