Using Modeling and Simulation to Assess Challenges and Solutions for 5G Fixed Wireless Access
(Room Ballroom G)
17 Oct 18
2:25 PM
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2:55 PM
One of the planned technologies that may change the digital landscape in the early rollouts of 5G is fixed wireless access (FWA), which will provide new and more flexible wireless solutions for broadband for the last mile to the home. The need for high bandwidth and new spectrum is driving many solutions to consider bands at millimeter wave frequencies; however, this has significant impacts on the ability of signals to propagate to a home or business and penetrate to the interior of buildings to an end user. A number of alternatives are being considered to address the challenges posed by this application, including placement of the base station and consumer premises equipment (CPE), as well as the use of new and innovative technologies such as multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) and beamforming to help overcome high path loss incurred at these higher frequencies. The business case for FWA relies on cost-effective solutions, making careful design and placement of the base stations and CPEs a critical part of making FWA work. Modeling and simulation can provide critical tools to make this analysis possible. In this paper, we use new modeling and simulation techniques to investigate some of the most critical challenges that FWA faces for operation in the physical environment at millimeter waves. Our approach uses enhanced ray-tracing that captures the full details of polarization and multipath so that we can predict how the placement, the environment, and complex new techniques such as massive MIMO beamforming, to include hybrid beamforming, can impact the effectiveness of a solution. We begin with assessing the effects from the environment, such as the losses from foliage and penetration through building walls at millimeter waves, as well as the effects of scattering on signal propagation. We then use simulations to evaluate how the location of base stations and proposed approaches for the placement of CPEs, to include roof-top or window-mounted solutions, can help to solve some of the basic challenges for deployment. Results are presented in terms of the predicted signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and the potential throughput for wireless broadband. The objective of the study is to provide insight into some of the key issues posed by FWA, as well as to provide a new proposed methodology for evaluating different designs and to plan for their placement within realistic environments.