Suburban Fixed Wireless Access Channel Measurements and Models at 28 GHz for 90% Outdoor Coverage

Achieving adequate coverage with high gain antennas is key to realizing the full promise of the wide bandwidth available at centimeter/millimeter bands. We report extensive outdoor measurements at 28 GHz in suburban residential areas in New Jersey and Chile, with over 2000 links measured for the same-street link types [vegetation blocked line of sight (LOS)] from 13 streets and other-street link types [true non-LOS (NLOS)] from 7 streets, using a specialized narrowband channel sounder at ranges reaching 200 m. The measurements, applicable to fixed wireless access, involved a 55° transmit antenna placed on the exterior of a street-facing window and a 10° receive horn antenna spinning on top of a van mast at 3 m height, emulating a lamppost-mounted base station (BS). The measured path gain-distance dependence is well represented by power-law models, and azimuth gains at the base are degraded through scattering by more than 4.3 dB for 10% of links. It was found that, with 51 dBm effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) at the BS and 11 dBi antenna at an outdoor-mounted terminal, 1 Gb/s downlink rate can be delivered up to 100 m from a BS deployed in the same street with 90% coverage guarantee.