5G NR FR2 Femtocell Coverage Map Using an Omnidirectional Twisted SWAA

Abstract

This article reports the implementation and coverage map of a mm-waves femtocell, using a high-gain omnidirectional twisted slotted-waveguide antenna array (SWAA). The twisted SWAA provides 14.7 dBi gain and 1.1-GHz bandwidth in the frequency range 2 (FR2) from the 5G new radio (5G NR) standard. A 91-m2 indoor coverage is demonstrated and its coverage map is estimated by measurements of the root mean square error vector magnitude (EVMRMS) parameter at 36-spatially distributed reception points throughout the laboratory. The 5G NR femtocell operates with 50-MHz bandwidth and 30 kHz-spaced subcarriers, giving rise to 104.8 Mbit/s throughput, whose signal quality is analyzed accordingly to the 3GPP Release 15 recommendations. Line-of-sight (LOS) and NLOS (non-LOS) propagation scenarios are evaluated, implying in EVMRMS variation from 3.13% to 19.4%. Coverage of 94% and 89% are achieved for QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) and 16-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) systems, respectively, demonstrating its applicability to the deployment of 5G NR femtocell operating in mm-waves.