Indoor 5G — mmWave FR2 challenges and beam management

mmWave Indoor Propagation Challenges

Deploying mmWave 5G indoors presents unique propagation challenges compared to sub-6 GHz bands. At 28 GHz, free-space path loss is twenty-two dB higher than at 3.5 GHz for the same distance. Indoor materials cause extreme attenuation — a single drywall partition adds five to eight dB loss, a concrete interior wall blocks fifteen to twenty-five dB, and human bodies cause fifteen to twenty dB of blockage shadowing. However, mmWave signals reflect well off smooth surfaces like glass, metal, and painted walls, creating strong non-line-of-sight paths that can be exploited for coverage. The…