Propagation measurements for D2D in rural areas

Device-to-Device (D2D) communications is considered to be a promising technique in next-generation communication networks aiming to enhance spectrum utilization and energy-efficiency. In this paper, we investigate the radio propagation behavior of the D2D channel in rural areas by conducting field measurements. We characterize the D2D channel by estimating the path-loss exponent and the standard deviation of the shadowing and by presenting the shadowing correlation analysis in various propagation environments using ISM band frequencies of 922 MHz and 2,466 MHz. The reported results are of great importance to system designers and researchers alike, to assist the development and the evaluation of innovative D2D protocols under realistic propagation conditions.