TeraHertz propagation performance evaluation for
Indoor Environment
Nagma Elburki* Souheib Ben Amor
INRS-EMT, Université du Québec INRS-EMT, Université du Québec
Montreal, Canada Montreal, Canada
nagma.elburki@emt.inrs.ca souheib.ben.amor@emt.inrs.ca
1
Abstract—In this paper, we evaluate the Terahertz propaga-
tion models that are used for indoor Communications. There is an
urgent need for deploying Terahertz frequency due to its various
advantages. For example, the Terahertz band is considered due to
low power consumption when operated in such frequency band.
This paper aims to assess the performance of indoor propagation
models that are compatible with the Terahertz band. Three
different propagation models are investigated, including ITU,
Log Distance, and multi-wall model (COST 231). To evaluate
the performance of these models at the Terahertz range we focus
on propagation loss due to distance.
Index Terms—TeraHertz, Log Distance, Multiwall, ITU
I. I NTRODUCTION
Today, there is a, need for higher data rates that grows
exponentially following the Edholm Law [1]. To counter
the demand for high bandwidth with the large number of
users, we can either increase the spectral efficiency above
the 10 bits/s/Hz or develop ultra-high bandwidth above 20
GHz [2]. The first approach is hard to achieve due to in-
numerable difficulties related to government regulations and
standardizations set by regulatory organizations. The second
approach is possible by using THz frequencies since it is
still an unregulated spectrum [3]. In fact, THz has been used
for the last 25 years for imaging (e.g. remote sensing) and
spectroscopy applications. It is also one of the least tapped
region of the electromagnetic spectrum that holds a lot of
potential for wireless communications [3] [4].
The THz was first studied formally by Fleming in 1974. It
was shown how Michelson interferometer [5] is used to record
spectra of THz region. The latter is widely used in industry for
measurement of small displacement and surface irregularities.
This particular band has a frequency ranging between 0.1-
10 THz and can fulfill the 10 Gbit/s requirement of 5G
Networks [6]. It is noted also that THz band has some similar
properties to the sub-millimeter-wavelength that fills wave-
length between 0.1-1 mm (300 GHz-3THz bands). Despite its
attractive advantages, some challenges needed to be addressed.
Indeed, THz communication systems suffer from high path
loss. Some solutions to counter key practical challenges were
studied and one of the promosing solutions suggests using
graphene when designing the antenna elements [7]. Graphene
1 The Authors would like to thank for generous funding to conduct research
from Libyan Government and INRS for providing the research facilities.
Affes Sofiéne
INRS-EMT, Université du Qubec
Montreal, Canada
affes@emt.inrs.ca
has also its own practical challenges. The first is the high
cost of extraction. Secondly, it suffers significantly from harsh
weather conditions. The authors in [8] developed for the first
ever time resonant tunneling diodes (RTD) that uses THz band
as medium of communication between connected devices. The
achievable range is 10 meters, which is a significant progress
in the domain of telecommunication. RTD has long been
studied due to its ability to function at ultra-high-speed, with
low-power electronics and the fascinating property of negative
differential resistance (NDR) [9].
The indoor propagation path loss was investigated in [10]
where the channel attenuation model was defined and the
long range technology for Megahertz (MHz) evaluated. The
authors in [11] have presented the technological information
for using a particular frequency range. After which it was
extended by [12] for path loss on the ISM Band (33, 868, 915)
MHz. There is an another work that provides a comparative
study of multiple empirical models for urban environment by
taking the frequency of 868 MHz [11]. Therefore, it leaves
a big gap in terms of development regarding the 5G and
more specifically the indoor communication technology where
a relatively high frequency is deployed. The calculation of
path loss is an important task as it allows the calculation
of the signal strength at a particular distance. According to
the best of our knowledge, the work presented in this paper
is relatively new and such study not been tackled before for
indoor propagation path loss.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows: In Section II,
we provide an overview of THz communication. In Section III,
we study the three-channel models. In Section IV, we assess
the performance of the channel models. Finally, we draw out
some concluding remarks in Section V.
II. TH Z C OMMUNICATION : S TANDARDIZATION AND
APPLICATION
The positioning of the Terahertz band can be shown as in
the Fig. 1 [13]. As mentioned in [14] the TeraHertz provides
advantages for both the electronics and photonics applications.
Terahertz can carry more bandwidth which is beneficial for the
telecommunication industry. It has also has a good penetration
property for opaque materials with high chemical selectivity
which is good for photonics industry.
 No. Environment PLE
1 Free Space 2
2 Inside a Building - LOS 1.6 - 1.8

TABLE I
TABLE 1 SHOWS THE VALUES OF COMMON PATH L OSS E XPONENT (PLE)

Fig. 1. THz positioning in the Radio spectrum
A. ITU Model
This propagation model, defined by the (International
Telecommunication Union) ITU, has been developed to predict
the median path loss and it is based on diffraction theory. It
is given as follows:
L = 20 log10 f + N log10 d + Pf (n) − 28 (1)
where L, f , d, and, N are the path loss, frequency, distance
and power loss respectively. The parameter n are the number
of floors between transmitter and receiver (being set to n=1 in
the simulation section) while Pf (n) is floor loss penetration
factor.

A. Standardization B. Log Distance Model

IEEE usually sets the industrial standard for Electrical and The Log distance model is commonly used for predicting
Electronics equipments. It has also set a specific standard that the path loss of a signal in a scenario characterized by an
is still under investigation and handled by an open group of inside building or a dense environment. Log Distance model
discussion (IEEE 802.15.3d). The main focus of the latter is is given by:
dedicated to high data rate transfer in the PHY layer THz  
bands [15]. Since its inception, the working group on THz d
[Llgdist ]dB = [PL (d0 )]dB + 10j log10 +X (2)
has proposed 8 channels bandwidth, that are multiples of 2.16 d0
GHz, 2 PHY-modes with 7 modulation schemes (BPSK, 16-
where PL (d0 ) is the path loss at an arbitrary distance d0
QAM, etc.) and 3 channel coding schemes [16].
meters, j is an exponent of the path loss and X is a Gaussian
random variable [19].
B. Application
Terahertz is widely used in the detection of pharmaceutical C. Multi-wall Model: COST 231 and Motley Kennan model
medicines [17]. Recently, it has been used for temperature 1) COST 231: There are various versions of COST 231
sensing applications [18]. It is being considered also for like COST 231-Walfisch-Ikegami for the path loss prediction.
use in battlefield communication, particularly for short range It is usually used in the case of the quasi-uniform environment
wideband communication, since it is sustainable in dry and and it is given by:
smoky climate [14]. Another application of Terahertz includes W f
radar systems due to the good directionality and energy LW I = −16.9 − 10 log10 + 10 log10 +J (3)
m T Hz
concentration features.
with
hmob
III. P ROPAGATION M ODELS J = 20 log10 + Lori (4)
m
In this section, we investigate the propagation models that where W , f , hmob and Lori are defined as width, frequency,
are compatible with the THz band that can also be used to es- height where m and T Hz are defined as meters and Terahertz
timate the signal propagation w.r.t distance. These models give for respective parameters. The parameter Lori is the distance
an estimate of the path loss in the indoor environment. Before while computing difference between the height of receiver
delving into more details, we define the path loss exponent where the rays has traveled [20]. In our studies for the indoor
(PLE) which measures the rate at which the (Received Signal propagation, we will be using the standard COST 231 [21]:
Strength) RSS decreases with distance, and its value depends
on the specific propagation environment [19]. Though, this Lcost231 = 32.4+20 log10 f +20 log10 (S + d)+Lindoor (5)
paper presents the simulation assuming various parameters that
are present in real environment. A list of common values for where S is the outdoor path, d is the distance and Lindoor is
the PLE was provided in [19] and it is summarized in Table the path loss due to incidence that depends on the material
I. upon which the incidence occurred.
 2) Motley Kennan Model: The Motley Kennan Model is
a widely used as an empirical model which gives it several
advantages over the deterministic models like ray tracing [22].
These advantages include faster computation, ease of use and,
compatibility with a large range of frequency bands. The
Motley Kennan can be formulated as:
Kw
X
LmotleyK = Po + 20 log10 (d) + Kwi Lwi (6)
i=1

where, Po is the path loss at a reference distance, d is

the distance separating the transmitter and receiver in meters,
Kw is the number of penetrated walls, Kwi is the number of
penetrated walls of type i. Lwi Loss of wall type wi.

IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS

In this section, We evaluated the above mentioned models
for better insight regarding TeraHertz frequencies and what
to expect from them. We used the Matlab 2019 cloud to
perform the simulations below. The experiments mainly focus
on the propagation loss in THz frequency range. We also used
multiple matlab toolboxes ranging from image processing,
Antenna Toolbox and phased array toolbox, etc.
In Fig. 2, we evaluate the behaviour of the ITU channel
model in terms of path loss for different distance range values.
Fig. 3. Figure shows the Propagation loss with respect to distance
panel or one corridor to another. Note that the Erceg model is
basically used to determine path loss in the terrain. This model
is actually based upon the data collected by AT&T and it has
been classified into three categories. Type A defines the low
path loss, Type B defines the intermediate path loss, which is
usually seen in the indoor environment. Finally, we have Type
C which defines a minimum path loss on with flat area and less
objects [23]. For the indoor environment, the terrain is similar
to a moderate or heavy tree density in outdoor environment.
Hence, we take this case to perform analysis and find out path
loss due to interference in indoor environment which is used
as an input for Lindoor to compute COST 231. Fig. 4 below
shows the path loss for the Erceg model and using L2 − L1
we derive the results where L1 and L2 are the variables taken
for computation.

Fig. 2. Propagation loss versus the central frequency for different distance
range values.

The Log distance model is evaluated using (2) with the

results shown in the Fig. 3. It is seen that the propagation
loss increases w.r.t distance. Log distance is evaluated for the
1 THz from 1 m till 10 m, the blue dots show the scattering
effect. This effect was introduced during the analysis. It shows
the randomness of the received signal (in order to emulate the
situation in real environment), which reflects a more realistic
scenario.
The COST 231 model includes the path loss related to Fig. 4. Path Loss of the Erceg Model
corridors and panels. To find the value of Lindoor as involved
in (4), we use the Erceg model to find the path loss from one Note that, there are two instances (with and without noise)
which has been taken into consideration as shown by Fig.
5 and Fig. 6. The noise is not being considering by using
the Erceg Model in Fig. 5. In Fig. 6, we highlighted the
importance of Erceg model in the COST 231. Therefore, we
obtain the results with the help of a heat map. In this scenario,
we considered the frequency of 1 THz. By comparing both
figures (Fig. 5 and 6) we show how the path loss increases
when the noise is added to the simulation. Here, the noise
is stemming from the presence of the objects i.e. windows
and walls. As seen in the Fig. 5 and 6, Tx is defined as the
transmitter, emitting at a frequency of 1 THz in a single floor.
The red color shows a small path loss, where as the blue refers
to a higher path loss values. In most cases the position of Tx
affects the propagation of the signal in the floor.
Fig. 5. The signal propagation following the COST 231 model without noise
Fig. 6. The signal propagation following the COST 231 Model with noise
added by following ERCEG model
In all the propagation loss analysis, we evaluated the prop-
agation loss of all the models discussed above between two
points of the distance. The difference of propagation loss is
given by, Lxi+1 − Lxi where x is the propagation model and
i is the point of reference. The values are taken from the
Fig. 7. Comparison of Different Models referring to the Propagation loss
with respect to distance (frequency=1Thz)
simulation shown above. The difference is for Log distance
model is 0.5628, ITU model shows 0.8279 and for COST 231
is 0.4257. In Fig. 7, we compare these 3 models in terms of
path-loss. It seen that the multiwall model (COST 231) have
the least loss propagation even with the presence of noise. As
seen from previous literature [12] [8], the multi-wall model
is known to be the best non-deterministic model. For a more
detailed comparative study of the models, the mean squared
error metric can be calculated to find the best propagation
model. However, this is beyond the scope of the paper.
V. C ONCLUSION
In this paper, we studied the Terahertz pathloss in an indoor
environment. We provided simulations that includes different
path loss models that will eventually help for a strategical
deployment the Thz frequency band for indoor communica-
tion. We mainly focused on the non-deterministic models and
less on models like ray tracing. As, deterministic models are
computationally expensive and, it has been seen that multiwall
models (COST 231) performs better in almost all cases while
being less computationally expensive. The multiwall model is
an excellent trade-off between the complexity and the accuracy
in the propagation loss studies. Furthermore, the investigation
can be conducted in real environment and compared later on
with the simulated models. The latter will give an insight on
how Terahertz systems behave in real world scenarios.
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