Characterizing Radio Wave Propagation in Urban Street Canyon with Vehicular Blockage at 28 GHz

The communications between two driving vehicles along a narrow street may be limited by the presence of a third vehicle blocking the transmission. In this work, we investigate radio wave propagation at 28 GHz in an urban street canyon scenario by conducting channel measurements, where the vehicle(s) occlude(s) the line-of-sight path. We quantify the impact of the car blockage and study the alternative propagation paths, which can be used for establishing a data link. Based on the obtained results, we report that besides the low-loss (3.4 dB) reflection from the wall, a radio link through the blocking car may potentially be established for data sharing. Specifically, the attenuation through clear windows is 2 dB, while the attenuation caused by sun protective film is 15 dB. Diffraction over the car and propagation in foliage reduce the multipath power drastically by 21-24 dB and 16-19 dB, respectively, and cannot be associated with reliable links. Finally, measurement results were compared with the ray-based simulation data, which demonstrate agreement to within ± 4.3 dB of measured losses.