Coverage analysis for millimeter wave cellular networks with blockage effects

Millimeter wave (mmWave) is promising for the fifth generation cellular systems. The sensitivity of mmWave signals to blockages, such as buildings in cities, however, makes the network performance hard to predict. Using concepts from stochastic geometry and random shape theory, this paper proposes an analytical framework to incorporate the blockage effects and evaluate the performance of mmWave cellular networks, in terms of coverage probability and achievable rate. Leveraging prior work on a blockage model, a stochastic characterization of the regions covered by line-of-sight (LOS) and non-LOS links is obtained, which allows different path loss laws to be applied to the LOS and non-LOS links, respectively. Based on the proposed framework, analytical expressions for the mmWave downlink coverage probability are derived, and then the network performance is examined. Numerical results show that millimeter wave (mmWave) networks can provide comparable coverage probability and much higher data rates than microwave networks.