Comprehensive Overview on Millimeter Wave Communications for 5G Networks Concentrating on Propagation Models for Different Urban Environments

Abstract

The global shortage of bandwidth prompted wireless carriers to move towards millimeter wave frequencies (mm-wave), a frequency spectrum that is underutilized by broadband communications networks. Despite the large number of studies and researches on the issue of millimeter wave propagation in outdoor and indoor environments, specifically environments with high population density, the issue of millimeter wave propagation in those environments remains somewhat ambiguous. For the exact purpose of the design and operation of the fifth-generation networks operating within the millimeter frequency spectrum, it has become necessary to obtain information about the wave propagation within those different environments. This paper presents a description of the wave propagation parameters and channel modeling prepared by several international groups, such as line and non-line of-sight (LOS & NLOS) probabilities and different propagation models to understand the mechanism of wave propagation within the millimeter range (0.5–70 GHz). This paper deals with simulating radio wave propagation in favour of different outdoor scenarios, calculating the path loss in several models and determining which models are most appropriate and best for certain environments.