On the performance of THz wireless LOS links through random turbulence channels

Abstract

In this paper, a general channel model for THz wireless line-of-sight links is developed and investigated. The propagation of THz waves is divided into two main scenarios, namely deterministic and random conditions. On the one hand, the molecular absorption due to water vapor and oxygen is considered as the deterministic effect on the wave propagation. On the other hand, the atmospheric turbulence conditions as well as pointing errors between THz transmitters and receivers are considered as the random factors affecting the wave propagation. By applying the well-known channel models, namely the log-normal, the gamma–gamma and the exponentiated Weibull, both scenarios are combined efficiently and their effects on the THz wave propagation have been studied. The performance of the derived channels is investigated in terms of the bit-error-rate and channel capacity for the different weather conditions. It has been shown that by using high gain THz reflector antennas, it is possible to have a wireless communication link with the reliable performance. The derived channel models are general and can be applied to any other weather conditions such as rainy, foggy and dusty channels. In addition to the investigation of the random effects as well as the deterministic ones on the propagation of the THz waves, the considered models utilize the modulation scheme for a communication system and therefore the results are promising as an estimator for the overall link performance. Moreover, they can be utilized as the channel and link budget estimator for the future THz wireless communication links.