Characterization of Dynamic Blockage Probability in Industrial Millimeter Wave 5G Deployments

5G New Radio (NR) systems promise to expand offered services to enable industrial automation scenarios. To enable ultra-low latency at the air interface and to exploit spatial redundancy for applications such as synchronization and motion control, user equipment (UE) will naturally require device-to-device (D2D) and base station (BS) to UE communications and directional transmissions provided by millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies. However, the performance of such systems is affected by the blockage phenomenon. In this paper, we propose a simple line-of-sight (LoS) blockage model for Industrial mmWave-based industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) deployments. The model is based on two sub-models, where each part can be changed/replaced to fit the scenario of interest. The first part is based on photogrammetry and provides the transparency probability for a single element on the factory floor. The second one utilizes these models of industrial elements to form the deployment and then applies stochastic geometry to derive the blockage probability. The proposed model can be utilized for any type of industrial machine, accounts for their inherent regular deployments on the factory floor, and provides the final results in an easy-to-compute form. Our results indicate that direct UE-UE communications are feasible in sparse deployments (less than 0.1 machine/m2) or at small communications distances (less than 5–10 m) or in deployments with highly transparent machines (machine transparency less than 0.5). Otherwise, BS-UE communications need to be utilized. In this case, BS height becomes a critical parameter affecting the LoS probability. Specifically, using a BS height of 10 m allows blockage probability to be improved by 20–30% as compared to a BS of height 4 m. Finally, as UE height produces more impact on the blockage probability as compared to a machine height, in real deployments, one needs to ensure that the height of communications modules at UEs are maximized.