Coverage enhancement methods for LMDS

Author

Falconer, David D. ; DeCruyenaere, Jean-Paul

Author_Institution

Carleton Univ., Ottawa, Ont., Canada

Volume

41

Issue

7

fYear

2003

fDate

7/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

86

Lastpage

92

Abstract

The upper SHF and EHF radio bands (above about 20 GHz) offer abundant available bandwidth for access to metropolitan area networks by fixed broadband wireless access (FBWA) systems. However, these systems must withstand significant propagation impairments, especially shadowing by obstacles and rainfall attenuation. We describe the results of propagation measurements and modeling of coverage, and consequences for FBWA system design, notably antenna placement, use of repeaters, and diversity. High (> 90 percent) coverage generally requires line-of-sight placement, although some non-line-of-sight coverage is possible for short distance and with judicious use of repeaters and macrodiversity.

Keywords

broadband networks; diversity reception; microwave antennas; microwave links; microwave propagation; millimetre wave antennas; millimetre wave propagation; radio access networks; radio repeaters; EHF radio band; FBWA system design; LMDS; MAN; NLOS coverage; SHF radio bands; antenna placement; attenuation. modeling; bandwidth; coverage enhancement methods; diversity reception; fixed broadband wireless access systems; line-of-sight placement; macrodiversity; metropolitan area networks; nonline-of-sight coverage; propagation impairments; propagation measurements; rainfall attenuation; repeaters; shadowing; short distance; Antenna measurements; Area measurement; Base stations; Databases; Diffraction; Loss measurement; Predictive models; Receiving antennas; Reflection; Transmitting antennas;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Communications Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0163-6804

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MCOM.2003.1215644

Filename

1215644