Antenna Deembedding for mmWave Propagation Modeling and Field Measurement Validation at 73 GHz

In field measurements at millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies, the spatial propagation characteristics are usually obtained by using steerable high-gain horn antennas to compensate the large path loss. However, it is a challenging issue to deembed antenna patterns from the observed channel responses. This paper has two contributions. First, according to the steering-antenna sounding process, a spatial channel response model is designed, where the multipath propagation profile, antenna pattern, and channel response are spatially sampled and combined in a discrete convolutional form. Then, a low-complexity antenna deembedding algorithm, including two steps of deconvolutions, is proposed. Second, a field measurement campaign on the frequency-space mmWave channels in an office is presented to validate the method. The channels were sounded at 72.5 to 73.5 GHz using three horn antennas with different beam widths and gains. The omnidirectional angular channel responses (ACRs) were measured by rotating the receiver antenna. The observed and reconstructed ACRs are consistent, and the estimated antenna-free angular propagation profiles by using different horn antennas are also highly correlated, which validate the proposed antenna deembedding approach. Furthermore, the omnidirectional transfer functions in the mmWave band obtained using different horn antennas are compared, and the channel coherence bandwidth is analyzed based on the autocorrelation of the transfer functions.