Statistical Investigation of the User Effects on Mobile Terminal Antennas for 5G Applications

In this paper, the user effects on mobile terminal antennas at 28 GHz are statistically investigated with the parameters of body loss, coverage efficiency, and power in the shadow. The data are obtained from the measurements of 12 users in data and talk modes, with the antenna placed on the top and bottom of the chassis. In the measurements, the users hold the phone naturally. The radiation patterns and shadowing regions are also studied. It is found that a significant amount of power can propagate into the shadow of the user by creeping waves and diffractions. A new metric is defined to characterize this phenomenon. A mean body loss of 3.2–4 dB is expected in talk mode, which is also similar to the data mode with the bottom antenna. A body loss of 1 dB is expected in data mode with the top antenna location. The variation of the body loss between the users at 28 GHz is less than 2 dB, which is much smaller than that of the conventional cellular bands below 3 GHz. The coverage efficiency is significantly reduced in talk mode, but only slightly affected in data mode.