Channel Characterization and Comparison in Industrial Scenario from Sub-6 GHz to Visible Light Bands for 6G

The industrial scenario is indispensable for ubiquitous 6G coverage, which demands hyper-reliable and low-latency communication for full automation, control, and operation. To meet these demands, it is widely believed that it is necessary to introduce not only the conventional sub-6 GHz bands but al...

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Main Authors: Yue Yin, Pan Tang, Jianhua Zhang, Zheng Hu, Tao Jiang, Liang Xia, Guangyi Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Photonics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/3/257
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author Yue Yin
Pan Tang
Jianhua Zhang
Zheng Hu
Tao Jiang
Liang Xia
Guangyi Liu
author_facet Yue Yin
Pan Tang
Jianhua Zhang
Zheng Hu
Tao Jiang
Liang Xia
Guangyi Liu
author_sort Yue Yin
collection DOAJ
description The industrial scenario is indispensable for ubiquitous 6G coverage, which demands hyper-reliable and low-latency communication for full automation, control, and operation. To meet these demands, it is widely believed that it is necessary to introduce not only the conventional sub-6 GHz bands but also high-frequency technologies, such as millimeter wave (mmWave), terahertz (THz), and visible light bands. In this paper, we conduct a channel characterization and comparison in the industrial scenario from the sub-6 GHz to visible light bands. The channel characteristics, including the path loss (PL), root mean square (RMS) delay spread (DS), and angle spread (AS), were analyzed with respect to the frequency dependence and the distance dependence. On the one hand, the visible light band exhibited significant differences in channel characteristics compared to the electronic wave band. Due to the line-of-sight transmission of VLC, the visible light band had a higher path loss, and the path loss exponent reached 3.84. Due to the Lambertian radiation pattern, which has a wide range of reflection angles, the AS of the visible light band was much larger than that of the electronic wave band, which were 1.73 and 0.80 for the visible light and THz bands, respectively. On the other hand, the blockage effect of the metal instruments in the industrial scenario will greatly affect the channel characteristics. As the transceiver distance grows large, signals from both sides of the receiver will be blocked by metal instruments, resulting in a decreasing trend in the RMS DS for the electronic wave band. Moreover, the statistical characteristics of the channel properties were modeled and compared with the 3GPP TR 38.901 standard. It was found that the height of the receiver caused the difference between the proposed model and the 3GPP model and needs to be taken into account when modeling. Furthermore, we extended the 3GPP model to the THz and VLC bands and provided the statistical parameters of the channel characteristics for all frequency bands. This study can provide insights for the evaluation and standardization of multi-frequency communication technology in the industrial scenario.
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spelling doaj-art-6089f68e0efd4b02a6c71f1aea32f7982025-08-20T02:42:25ZengMDPI AGPhotonics2304-67322025-03-0112325710.3390/photonics12030257Channel Characterization and Comparison in Industrial Scenario from Sub-6 GHz to Visible Light Bands for 6GYue Yin0Pan Tang1Jianhua Zhang2Zheng Hu3Tao Jiang4Liang Xia5Guangyi Liu6State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, ChinaChina Mobile Research Institute, Beijing 100053, ChinaChina Mobile Research Institute, Beijing 100053, ChinaChina Mobile Research Institute, Beijing 100053, ChinaThe industrial scenario is indispensable for ubiquitous 6G coverage, which demands hyper-reliable and low-latency communication for full automation, control, and operation. To meet these demands, it is widely believed that it is necessary to introduce not only the conventional sub-6 GHz bands but also high-frequency technologies, such as millimeter wave (mmWave), terahertz (THz), and visible light bands. In this paper, we conduct a channel characterization and comparison in the industrial scenario from the sub-6 GHz to visible light bands. The channel characteristics, including the path loss (PL), root mean square (RMS) delay spread (DS), and angle spread (AS), were analyzed with respect to the frequency dependence and the distance dependence. On the one hand, the visible light band exhibited significant differences in channel characteristics compared to the electronic wave band. Due to the line-of-sight transmission of VLC, the visible light band had a higher path loss, and the path loss exponent reached 3.84. Due to the Lambertian radiation pattern, which has a wide range of reflection angles, the AS of the visible light band was much larger than that of the electronic wave band, which were 1.73 and 0.80 for the visible light and THz bands, respectively. On the other hand, the blockage effect of the metal instruments in the industrial scenario will greatly affect the channel characteristics. As the transceiver distance grows large, signals from both sides of the receiver will be blocked by metal instruments, resulting in a decreasing trend in the RMS DS for the electronic wave band. Moreover, the statistical characteristics of the channel properties were modeled and compared with the 3GPP TR 38.901 standard. It was found that the height of the receiver caused the difference between the proposed model and the 3GPP model and needs to be taken into account when modeling. Furthermore, we extended the 3GPP model to the THz and VLC bands and provided the statistical parameters of the channel characteristics for all frequency bands. This study can provide insights for the evaluation and standardization of multi-frequency communication technology in the industrial scenario.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/3/257channel characteristicscomparisonindustrial scenarioVLCmmWaveTHz
spellingShingle Yue Yin
Pan Tang
Jianhua Zhang
Zheng Hu
Tao Jiang
Liang Xia
Guangyi Liu
Channel Characterization and Comparison in Industrial Scenario from Sub-6 GHz to Visible Light Bands for 6G
Photonics
channel characteristics
comparison
industrial scenario
VLC
mmWave
THz
title Channel Characterization and Comparison in Industrial Scenario from Sub-6 GHz to Visible Light Bands for 6G
title_full Channel Characterization and Comparison in Industrial Scenario from Sub-6 GHz to Visible Light Bands for 6G
title_fullStr Channel Characterization and Comparison in Industrial Scenario from Sub-6 GHz to Visible Light Bands for 6G
title_full_unstemmed Channel Characterization and Comparison in Industrial Scenario from Sub-6 GHz to Visible Light Bands for 6G
title_short Channel Characterization and Comparison in Industrial Scenario from Sub-6 GHz to Visible Light Bands for 6G
title_sort channel characterization and comparison in industrial scenario from sub 6 ghz to visible light bands for 6g
topic channel characteristics
comparison
industrial scenario
VLC
mmWave
THz
url https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/3/257
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AT zhenghu channelcharacterizationandcomparisoninindustrialscenariofromsub6ghztovisiblelightbandsfor6g
AT taojiang channelcharacterizationandcomparisoninindustrialscenariofromsub6ghztovisiblelightbandsfor6g
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