Forward Link Performance Analysis for the Future IEEE 802.16-Based Airport Data Link

In this paper, an analysis of the performance of the OFDM version of the IEEE 802.16e standard is provided in a realistic airport scenario. We implemented a novel stochastic airport channel model describing the main wireless propagation phenomena related to the airport environment. Multi-path and Doppler effects with the potentially resulting inter-symbol interference and inter-carrier interference have been taken into account, respectively. System performance is evaluated for the forward link case in the apron, parking, taxi and runway scenarios, showing strengths and lacks of the system characteristics. For the most critical scenario (i.e., the parking one), an investigation of the reduction of the pilot sub-carriers spacing and on the introduction of antenna diversity is proposed, showing large performance gains.