Possibility of directional communication in mmWave WPANs

In this paper, the communication success probability of two randomly selected devices is analysed in mmWave Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs). Devices are equipped with a directional antenna and randomly distributed in a piconet. The antenna direction of each device is randomly chosen and fixed during the communication. The communication of the selected pair can be performed either directly or via relaying devices. In the analysis, the probability density function of the distance for devices is used and transmission through both of the mainlobe and sidelobe is considered. Numerical results show that there is an optimal beamwidth that enables efficient spatial reuse and maximizes the successful communication probability of a pair of devices. The optimal value varies depending on the parameters such as the number of devices. It also can be derived that the communication of a pair of devices is difficult, when the directions of antennas of devices are fixed. The results obtained in this paper will provide a criterion for practical design of mmWave network system and implementing appliances using high data rate.