Service Area Expansion of Quasi-Millimeter FWA Systems Through Site Diversity Based on Detailed Rainfall Intensity Data

Two years of high temporal- and spatial-resolution radar data is used to quantify the rain-attenuation diversity gain available in 26 GHz fixed wireless access systems having sight of the second transmitter. The service area defined by attenuation contours on the least-faded link is determined; the results show that an expansion of the service area is possible even over short paths. Service area contours with and without diversity are derived from radar observations of rainfall rate. Good agreement is obtained with similar results for a statistical model based on a gamma probability distribution and a negative-exponential spatial correlation function for rain rate (which are shown to fit observed data). For the service area defined by a bit error rate of 10^-4 and availability of 4 times 10^-1, site diversity expands the service area by up to 20% with a 10 km access point spacing.