5G Wireless Channel Characterization in Indoor Factory Environments: Simulation and Validation

We are investigating the characteristics of wireless channels in a factory floor environment through simulation and experimentation. We simulate the communication coverage of 5G indoor factory (InF) networks using both, ray tracing and statistical channel models. A ray tracing model requires detailed models of the environment, including their properties and locations, whereas an empirical statistical model does not need such details. Through simulation, we compare the InF wireless channel characteristics obtained from ray tracing and statistical models. Different channel characterization metrics are considered in the comparison, including Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), channel gain, and SNR. For the purpose of validating the simulation results, we have conducted experiments with a private 5G test-bed on a real-world factory floor. For our use case, we used a factory hall with two 5G radio heads in different positions. Our study demonstrates the viability of the 3GPP InF model, providing more accurate predictions than ray tracing while using less data and significantly quicker simulation run times.