3GPP MIMO Channel Model for Frequency Spectrum above 6 GHz

Contribution 1: We present the implementation for the ns–3 mmWave module of the 3GPP channel model, described in [1]. According to the 3GPP, this model should be used for the evaluation of NR technologies that rely on communications in the 6-100 GHz band, hence making it an extremely important feature for any mmWave system level simulator. Moreover, we combined the model with the ns–3 buildings module in order to simulate complex and realistic 3D scenarios, and implemented two of the optional features of the model, the spatial consistency and the blockage model, in order to be as compliant as possible with [1].

Contribution 2: The second contribution is the MIMO beamforming architecture, which models two beamforming computational methods, and can be easily customized to study, for example, beam tracking solutions, beamforming vector calculation techniques, and different antenna architectures.

Tutorial Example: We also provide an ns–3 script that can be used to run a simulation using the 3GPP channel model in the MmWave3gppChannelExample example. When designing its own script, the researcher can select one of the two propagation models by setting the PathlossModel attribute of the MmWaveHelper object that is used to set up the simulation, and set the ChannelModel attribute to "ns3::MmWave3gppChannel". Then the other parameters that must be chosen are the scenario, the LOS condition model, the usage of the optional NLOS pathloss computations, spatial consistency and blockage features. All the attributes related to this channel model can be found in the provided example.

[1] 3GPP. 2017. TR 38.900, Study on channel model for frequency spectrum above 6 GHz, V14.2.0. (2017).