Wideband measurement and analysis of penetration loss in the 5 GHz band

The allocation of spectrum for wireless standards in the 5 GHz band within Europe, Japan and the USA has created much interest in propagation studies in this band. In this paper we present wideband measurements at 5.8 GHz performed by placing a transmitter outside an office building and moving a receiver inside the building while sampling complex impulse responses. The results show that the penetration loss is best described by a nonlinear function with the number of wall sections as a parameter. Average penetration loss between indoor and outdoor receiver/transmitter was found to be 16 dB. The specific location inside the building also affects the shape of the power delay profile with multipath components becoming more dominant well inside the building. The direction of arrival of the incoming waves is estimated using MUSIC, and power delay direction profiles supporting the nonlinear penetration-loss function are presented.