Effects of Micro-Scale Mobility and Beam Misalignment in On-Body mmWave Systems

Abstract

Wearable devices positioned on a human body have challenges in millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication due to micro-scale mobility, such as subtle shakes and rotations. These movements can compromise the radio link performance. It may be problematic for high-rate immersive applications, where this can lead to substantial degradation in the user’s quality of experience. In this letter, we propose a framework to quantify the impact of micro-scale mobility and beam misalignment on the performance of on-body mmWave links. Our findings reveal that for varying levels of beam misalignment, it is possible to adjust the antenna half-power beamwidth to enhance the data rates.Wearable devices positioned on a human body have challenges in millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication due to micro-scale mobility, such as subtle shakes and rotations. These movements can compromise the radio link performance. It may be problematic for high-rate immersive applications, where this can lead to substantial degradation in the user’s quality of experience. In this letter, we propose a framework to quantify the impact of micro-scale mobility and beam misalignment on the performance of on-body mmWave links. Our findings reveal that for varying levels of beam misalignment, it is possible to adjust the antenna half-power beamwidth to enhance the data rates.