Coverage Probability Analysis of Passive Reflectors in Indoor Environments

Abstract

Since millimeter wave (mmWave) and sub-terahertz bands are highly vulnerable to blockage and penetration loss effects, wireless coverage enhancement is one of the critical challenges in indoor mmWave deployments. In particular, when the line-of-sight (LoS) link is blocked, a strong non-LoS (NLoS) path can provide a stable link quality. One of the efficient ways to improve the NLoS link is the use of strategically placed passive reflectors. In this letter, we study the indoor coverage improvement by using a transparent passive reflector attached on a wall. We consider an indoor open-door scenario, where the LoS link is blocked by the walls for receivers inside the room, and the coverage can only be achieved via an NLoS link through a passive reflector. We analytically derive closed-form equations of the reflection visibility probability and the coverage probability. By simulation and analytical results, we show the coverage dependency on the location and size of the reflector. © 1997-2012 IEEE.