Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Department

Electrical Engineering

First Advisor

David W. Matolak

Abstract

The millimeter wave (mmWave) band has been increasingly studied in recent years due to the saturation of other common frequency bands and the need for higher data rates for current and future communications systems. In this thesis, we quantify key channel parameters for mmWave channels in several environments, including an office setting, an indoor corridor, outdoor areas near a large building, and two shipboard environments. Using a center frequency of 30.5 GHz and signal bandwidth of 500 MHz, we quantify path loss and delay dispersion. The shipboard environments are a focus due to their novelty. Measurements were made using a vector signal generator, mixer, two directional horn antennas (10 dB gain), and a signal and spectrum analyzer. Tests were conducted for line- of-sight (LOS), non-LOS, and obstructed-LOS environments and co- and cross- polarizations. Results were obtained and compared to theoretical results and results from literature for similar experiments. It was found that three criteria affect the path loss exponent the most. It was observed that the shape of the enviornment, material composition of objects, and Fresnel zone clearance are what mostly affect the path loss exponent. The path loss exponent ranged from 1.45 to 2.81 for all environments. There are distinct factors that affect root-mean-square delay spread (RMS-DS) as well. It was concluded that transmitter-receiver separation distance and material composition affect RMS-DS values the most. The prevalence of metal objects in the shipboard environments yield more multipath components than in more conventional, e.g., office, settings, generally increasing RMS-DS. The RMS-DS ranged from 8.7 ns to 19.5 ns for the shipboard environments. It was also concluded that the cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) was lower in a shipboard environment than an office setting or indoor corridor, and this is also attributable to the larger number of reflecting and scattering metallic objects.

Rights

© 2026, Patrick Morris

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