Empirical capacity of mmWave WLANS

The 60 GHz spectrum gives us the opportunity to deliver gigabit rates to users in a WLAN (wireless local area network) setting. The constrained propagation of signals at this frequency band ensures limited coverage which in turn enables the construction of very efficient STDMA (spatial time division multiple access) schedules. In this paper we study the achievable aggregate capacity in a room when using two types of smart antenna arrays - linear and circular. Using detailed Matlab simulations, we show that with just 400 MHz of the spectrum, aggregate data rates of 9 Gbps (4.5 Gbps) can be achieved with linear (circular) arrays. We also study the energy efficiency of the communication and show that the energy/bit is as low as 0.2 times 10^-10 (0.2 times 10^-9)Joules/Bit by using variable transmit powers at different parts of the room. Finally, we study the problem of coverage due to blocking of the LoS (line of sight) path. To mitigate this problem we study the use of static reflectors and show that coverage in the entire room can indeed be maintained.