Methodology for Benchmarking Radio-Frequency Channel Sounders through a System Model

Published

October 12, 2020

Author(s)

Camillo Gentile, Jack Chuang, Anuraag Bodi

Abstract

Development of a comprehensive channel propagation model for high-fidelity design and deployment of wireless communication networks necessitates an extensive measurement campaign in a variety of operating environments and with different configuration settings. Because the campaign is time-consuming and expensive, the effort is typically shared by multiple organizations, inevitably with their own channel-sounder architectures and processing methods. Without proper benchmarking, it cannot be discerned whether differences in observed measurements are actually due to the varying environments or to discrepancies between the channel sounders themselves. The simplest approach for benchmarking is to transport participant channel sounders to a common environment, collect data, and compare results. Because this is rarely feasible, this paper proposes an alternative methodology, which is both practical and reliable, based on a mathematical system model to represent the channel sounder. The model parameters correspond to the hardware features specific to each system, characterized through precision, in situ calibration to ensure accurate representation; the model is then applied to an ideal channel response, identical for all systems to ensure fair comparison. The output of the system model, equivalent to what the channel sounder would actually measure, is a distorted version of the channel response stemming from hardware limitations such as finite spatial- temporal resolution, dynamic range, etc. Five worldwide organizations participated in the cross-validation of their sounders through the proposed methodology. Channel sounder descriptions, calibration procedures, and processing methods are provided for each organization as well as results and comparisons for 20 ideal channel responses.

Citation

IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications

Volume

19

Issue

10

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1109/TWC.2020.3003617

Local Download

Keywords

antenna, measurement, propagation, cross-validation, millimeter-wave, mmWave

Citation

Gentile, C. , Chuang, J. and Bodi, A. (2020), Methodology for Benchmarking Radio-Frequency Channel Sounders through a System Model, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, [online], https://doi.org/10.1109/TWC.2020.3003617, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=928911 (Accessed April 17, 2024)