Abstract
Wireless connectivity has been realized for multiple environments and different frequency bands. However, little research exists about mmWave communication in industrial environments. This paper presents the 60 GHz double-directional radio channel for mmWave communication in a ship hull for Line-of-Sight (LOS) and non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) conditions. We performed channel measurements using the Terragraph channel sounder at different locations in the ship hull and fitted LOS path loss to a one-slope path loss model. Path loss and root-mean-square delay spread of the LOS path is compared to the reflected path with lowest path loss. NLOS communication via this first-order reflected path is modeled by calculating the path distance and determining the reflection loss. The reflection losses have a considerable contribution to the signal attenuation of the reflected path. The channel models are implemented in an indoor coverage prediction tool, which was extended with a ray launching algorithm and validated by comparison with an analytical electromagnetic solver. The results show that the mmWave radio channel allows high-throughput communication within a ship hull compartment, even when no LOS path between the transmitter and receiver is present.
Directive mmWave radio channel modeling in a ship hull