Analysis and Comparison of 24 GHz cmWave Radio Propagation in Urban and Suburban Scenarios

This paper presents a measurement-based comparison of cm-wave propagation in urban and suburban scenarios at 24 GHz with transmitter antennas located above rooftop level. Different sets of directional measurements, exploring the full azimuth and the range from -30 to +30 degrees in elevation, were performed with horn antennas located close to street level, in order to explore the spatial characteristics of the channel in both LOS and NLOS conditions. The statistical analysis of different directional indicators shows how, at 24 GHz, outdoor propagation is quite different in the suburban scenario as compared to the urban case. Increased spatial multipath, in average 1.23 times higher, is observed in the suburban scenario, mainly due to the strong presence of vegetation. This results in reduced suburban NLOS path loss exponents (3.4) in comparison to the urban scenario (3.7), as detailed in the outdoor path loss analysis. The paper also highlights the potential of using beam combining techniques in order to improve cell-edge coverage by 17% and 37% in the urban and suburban scenarios, respectively. Outdoor-to-indoor propagation was also investigated, finding an average penetration loss of 6.5 dB for buildings composed of light construction materials. The different results and observations provided in the paper are useful for modeling and simulation of future wireless networks operating at 24 GHz in urban and suburban scenarios