Blockage modelling for evaluation of a 60 GHz Dense Small-Cell Network Performance

Ray-based and hybrid propagation models are today considered as valuable solutions to fulfill
5G wireless channel modeling requirements. They are a complement or alternative to the stochastic
approaches when link-level and system-level simulations deal with millimeter-wave (mmWave), ultradense
deployment and/or large antenna arrays. The present article proposes an extension of an urban
ray-based model for the assessment of a 60-GHz outdoor small-cell network. The multi-paths are
predicted from interactions with the static environment, but also with randomly-positioned vehicles and
user-bodies. Both the vehicles and the user-body generate ray-path blockage, and (in case of the vehicle)
new propagation paths. This sometimes affects the cell selection or beam orientation, and significantly
changes the received signal strength and inter-cell interference. In this paper, the blockage effect is first
modelled and assessed in simple scenarios before it is introduced into a whole mmWave small-cell
network simulation via a stochastic process. The impacts on the signal strength, interference level and
the signal-to-interference ratio are evaluated and discussed.