6G ultra-high frequency propagation characteristics and radio channel modeling in dense urban environments

Abstract The aim of Sixth Generation (6G) is to jointly satisfy the requirements of ultrahigh reliability, capacity, efficiency, and low latency, and deliver both customizable and sector-specific communications. To achieve such improved capabilities, 6G explores a plethora of new approaches, one of which is the possibility of extending the range of radio channel resources by exploiting ultra-high frequency bands in the millimeter wave range that have not been used thus far. This, however, represents a considerable challenge. The development of efficient high-frequency radio technologies requires accurate channel modeling preceded by a meticulous comparative scientific analysis of path loss characteristics of the millimeter wave frequency bands. This paper investigates propagation characteristics based on simulations of the 100 GHz ultra-high frequency band in a dense urban 6G environment. A radio channel performance evaluation for the selected frequency band was completed in a simulated environment using NYUSIM toolset. A range of propagation parameters were characterized for a selection of line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight scenarios, including path loss, received power, and path loss exponent. The results show that utilization of the selected operating frequency in 6G is feasible but future research work is challenged with urban macro-cell deployments in indoor environments.