ECE4370 Class Project: Propagation Modeling in Emerging Shared Radio Spectrum at 3.5 GHz

In the United States, government and commercial entities have begun investigating sharing the 3550– 3650 MHz military Radar band. However, proposed exclusion zones that limit the interference to and from these S-band radars would severely restrict the usefulness of this band. The key to ensuring successful sharing is robust interference predictions based on accurate and reliable propagation models. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive propagation measurement and modeling campaign for the 3.5 GHz band. Although existing propagation models have demonstrated broad applicability, they each fall short in accurately and reliably describing the measured propagation in this band. You are a member of a small engineering consulting company that has been contacted by the US government to develop new propagation models for a possible radio frequency allocation at 3.5 GHz. The US has invited your company and a handful of other firms to compete for a lucrative contract that will allow you to build their next-generation propagation modeling software in this band. A trial will be held by studying live measurements from a propagation from a radar tower in central Maryland. After submission, these maps will be compared against real measured data from both indoor and outdoor locations. The US will provide you with some measurements for a region around an actual 3.5 GHz radar tower so that you can train and test your propagation engine. They will then give you a blank area in the map for your group to predict signal strength. Any extracurricular resource that your company desires to acquire and consult is fair game. This includes satellite photographs, GIS terrain maps, manufacturer’s antenna patterns, Tiger data for streets and highways, etc. Be creative.