Testing a 5G Communication System: Kriging-Aided O2I Path Loss Modeling Based on 3.5 GHz Measurement Analysis

Area of Science:

• Wireless communication engineering
• Radio wave propagation
• Statistical modeling

Background:

• Effective planning of radio access networks in outdoor-to-indoor (O2I) environments requires deep understanding of radio wave behavior.
• Existing models often simplify fading as a random variable, potentially limiting accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel measurement-based path loss prediction model for O2I environments.
• To characterize and estimate shadowing effects using Kriging techniques.
• To compare the proposed model's accuracy against traditional O2I models.

Main Methods:

• Conducted over 400 non-line-of-sight (NLOS) radio measurements at 3.5 GHz.
• Developed a narrowband path loss prediction model incorporating Kriging for shadowing estimation.
• Compared model predictions with COST231, WINNER+, ITU-R, 3GPP urban microcell O2I models, and field data.

Main Results:

• The proposed model demonstrated significantly higher prediction accuracy.
• Mean error, standard deviation, and root mean square error (RMSE) were considerably reduced.
• The model effectively decreased average path loss prediction errors in evaluated scenarios.

Conclusions:

• The novel O2I path loss model offers superior accuracy for wireless network planning.
• Kriging techniques provide effective characterization and estimation of shadowing effects.
• This approach enhances the reliability of radio access network deployment in O2I settings.