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Conference 101719 CCECE
Conference 101719 CCECE
Indoor Environment
Nagma Elburki Souheib Ben Amor Affes Sofiène
INRS-EMT, Université du Québec INRS-EMT, Université du Québec INRS-EMT, Université du Québec
Montreal, Canada Montreal, Canada Montreal, Canada
nagma.elburki@emt.inrs.ca souheib.ben.amor@emt.inrs.ca affes@emt.inrs.ca
1
Abstract—In this paper, we evaluate the TeraHertz (THz) has also its own practical challenges. The first is the high
propagation models that are used for indoor Communications. cost of extraction. Secondly, it suffers significantly from harsh
There is an urgent need for deploying THz frequency due to its weather conditions. The authors in [8] developed for the first
various advantages. For example, the THz band is considered
due to low power consumption when operated in such frequency ever time resonant tunneling diodes (RTD) that uses THz band
band. This paper aims to assess the performance of indoor as medium of communication between connected devices. The
propagation models that are compatible with the THz band. achievable range is 10 meters, which is a significant progress
Three different propagation models are investigated, including in the domain of telecommunication. RTD has long been
ITU, log distance, and multi-wall model (COST 231). To evaluate studied due to its ability to function at ultra-high-speed, with
the performance of these models at the THz range we focus on
propagation loss due to distance. low-power electronics and the fascinating property of negative
Index Terms—TeraHertz, Log-distance, Multi-wall, ITU. differential resistance (NDR) [9].
The indoor propagation path loss was investigated in [10]
I. I NTRODUCTION where the channel attenuation model was defined and the
Today, there is a, need for higher data rates that grows long range technology for Megahertz (MHz) evaluated. The
exponentially following the Edholm Law [1]. To counter authors in [11] have presented the technological information
the demand for high bandwidth with the large number of for using a particular frequency range. After which it was
users, we can either increase the spectral efficiency above extended by [12] for path loss on the ISM Band (33, 868, 915)
the 10 bits/s/Hz or develop ultra-high bandwidth above 20 MHz. There is an another work that provides a comparative
GHz [2]. The first approach is hard to achieve due to in- study of multiple empirical models for urban environment by
numerable difficulties related to government regulations and taking the frequency of 868 MHz [11]. Therefore, it leaves
standardizations set by regulatory organizations. The second a big gap in terms of development regarding the 5G and
approach is possible by using THz frequencies since it is more specifically the indoor communication technology where
still an unregulated spectrum [3]. In fact, THz has been used a relatively high frequency is deployed. The calculation of
for the last 25 years for imaging (e.g. remote sensing) and path loss is an important task as it allows the calculation
spectroscopy applications. It is also one of the least tapped of the signal strength at a particular distance. According to
region of the electromagnetic spectrum that holds a lot of the best of our knowledge, the work presented in this paper
potential for wireless communications [3] [4]. is relatively new and such study not been tackled before for
The THz was first studied formally by Fleming in 1974. It indoor propagation path loss.
was shown how Michelson interferometer [5] is used to record The rest of the paper is organized as follows: In Section II,
spectra of THz region. The latter is widely used in industry for we provide an overview of THz communication. In Section III,
measurement of small displacement and surface irregularities. we study the three-channel models. In Section IV, we assess
This particular band has a frequency ranging between 0.1- the performance of the channel models. Finally, we draw out
10 THz and can fulfill the 10 Gbit/s requirement of 5G some concluding remarks in Section V.
Networks [6]. It is noted also that THz band has some similar
properties to the sub-millimeter-wavelength that fills wave- II. TH Z C OMMUNICATION : S TANDARDIZATION AND
length between 0.1-1 mm (300 GHz-3THz bands). Despite its APPLICATION
attractive advantages, some challenges needed to be addressed.
The positioning of the THz band can be shown as in the Fig.
Indeed, THz communication systems suffer from high path
1 [13]. As mentioned in [14] the THz provides advantages for
loss. Some solutions to counter key practical challenges were
both the electronics and photonics applications. THz can carry
studied and one of the promising solutions suggests using
more bandwidth which is beneficial for the telecommunication
graphene when designing the antenna elements [7]. Graphene
industry. It has also has a good penetration property for opaque
1 The authors would like to thank for generous funding to conduct research materials with high chemical selectivity which is good for
from Libyan Government and INRS for providing the research facilities. photonics industry.
figure1.eps the simulation section) while Pf (n) is floor loss penetration
Fig. 1. THz positioning in the radio spectrum.
factor.
B. Log-Distance Model
A. Standardization
The Log distance model is commonly used for predicting
IEEE usually sets the industrial standard for Electrical and
the path loss of a signal in a scenario characterized by an
Electronics equipments. It has also set a specific standard that
inside building or a dense environment. Log Distance model
is still under investigation and handled by an open group of
is given by:
discussion (IEEE 802.15.3d). The main focus of the latter is
dedicated to high data rate transfer in the PHY layer THz
bands [15]. Since its inception, the working group on THz d
has proposed 8 channels bandwidth, that are multiples of 2.16 [Llgdist ]dB = [PL (d0 )]dB + 10j log10 +X (2)
d0
GHz, 2 PHY-modes with 7 modulation schemes (BPSK, 16-
QAM, etc.) and 3 channel coding schemes [16]. where PL (d0 ) is the path loss at an arbitrary distance d0
meters, j is an exponent of the path loss and X is a Gaussian
B. Application random variable [19].
THz is widely used in the detection of pharmaceutical
medicines [17]. Recently, it has been used for temperature C. Multi-Wall Model: COST 231 and Motley Kennan model
sensing applications [18]. It is being considered also for
use in battlefield communication, particularly for short range 1) COST 231: There are various versions of COST 231
wideband communication, since it is sustainable in dry and like COST 231-Walfisch-Ikegami for the path loss prediction.
smoky climate [14]. Another application of THz includes It is usually used in the case of the quasi-uniform environment
radar systems due to the good directionality and energy and it is given by:
concentration features.
W f
LW I = −16.9 − 10 log10 + 10 log10 +J (3)
III. P ROPAGATION M ODELS m T Hz
In this section, we investigate the propagation models that with
are compatible with the THz band that can also be used to es- hmob
timate the signal propagation w.r.t distance. These models give J = 20 log10 + Lori (4)
m
an estimate of the path loss in the indoor environment. Before
delving into more details, we define the path loss exponent where W , f , hmob and Lori are defined as width, frequency,
(PLE) which measures the rate at which the (Received Signal height where m and T Hz are defined as meters and Terahertz
Strength) RSS decreases with distance, and its value depends for respective parameters. The parameter Lori is the distance
on the specific propagation environment [19]. Though, this while computing difference between the height of receiver
paper presents the simulation assuming various parameters that where the rays has traveled [20]. In our studies for the indoor
are present in real environment. A list of common values for propagation, we will be using the standard COST 231 [21]:
the PLE was provided in [19] and it is summarized in Table
I.
Lcost231 = 32.4+20 log10 f +20 log10 (S + d)+Lindoor (5)
No. Environment PLE
1 Free space 2
2 Inside a building - LOS 1.6 - 1.8 where S is the outdoor path, d is the distance and Lindoor is
the path loss due to incidence that depends on the material
TABLE I upon which the incidence occurred.
C OMMON VALUES OF PATH LOSS EXPONENT (PLE)
2) Motley-Kennan Model: The empirical Motley-Kennan
model is widely used for its several advantages over deter-
ministic ones like ray tracing [22]. These advantages include
A. ITU Model faster computation, ease of use and, compatibility with a large
This propagation model, defined by the (International range of frequency bands. It can be formulated as:
Telecommunication Union) ITU, has been developed to predict
Kw
the median path loss and it is based on diffraction theory. It X
LM K = Po + 20 log10 (d) + Kwi Lwi (6)
is given as follows:
i=1
L = 20 log10 f + N log10 d + Pf (n) − 28 (1)
where, Po is the path loss at a reference distance, d is the
where L, f , d, and, N are the path loss, frequency, distance distance separating the transmitter and receiver in meters, Kw
and power loss respectively. The parameter n are the number is the number of penetrated walls, Kwi is the number of
of floors between transmitter and receiver (being set to n=1 in penetrated walls of type i. Lwi Loss of wall type wi.
IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS figures (Figs. 5 and 6), we show how the path loss increases
In this section, We evaluated the above mentioned models when the noise is added to the simulation. Here, the noise
for better insight regarding THz frequencies and what to is stemming from the presence of the objects i.e. windows
expect from them. We used the Matlab 2019 cloud to perform and walls. As seen in the Fig. 5 and 6, Tx is defined as the
the simulations below. The experiments mainly focus on transmitter, emitting at a frequency of 1 THz in a single floor.
the propagation loss in THz frequency range. We also used The red color shows a small path loss, where as the blue refers
multiple Matlab toolboxes ranging from image processing, to a higher path loss values. In most cases the position of Tx
Fig. 5. the
affects Signal propagation following
propagation the COST
of the signal 231 floor.
in the model without noise.
Antenna Toolbox and phased array toolbox, etc. Fig. 6. Signal propagation following the COST 231 model with noise added
Non oise.eps
In Fig. 2, we evaluate the behaviour of the ITU channel Noisea dded.eps
following the empirical model in [23]
model in terms of path loss for different distance range values.
ITUm odele ps.eps
combine
Fig. 7. Comparison of different r esult.eps
models for path loss versus distance at 1
Fig. 2. Propagation loss versus the central frequency for different distance
range values. THz