Uncertainty Analysis Methodology for Measurements of Dynamic Millimeter-Wave Channels

Quantification of uncertainties in the results of channel sounding measurements is important for their interpretation and further usage. In this paper, a novel uncertainty analysis methodology to quantify uncertainties of condensed parameters in measurements of dynamic millimeter-wave channels is presented. The bandwidth limitation and multipath threshold are identified as important impairments. Therefore, the methodology provides three uncertainty metrics for condensed parameters, namely a standard uncertainty to quantify the impact of random variations; a bias due to the multipath threshold; and a total bias including the impact of the bandwidth limitation. These uncertainty metrics are highly channel dependent. Therefore, the proposed methodology creates reference channels, which are representative of corresponding measured channels. Hardware and processing impairments are included in the analysis via a Monte Carlo simulation. This results in a general methodology that can quantify uncertainties in both static and dynamic channel measurements of any wideband channel sounder. The methodology is implemented, verified and demonstrated for the TU/e channel sounder, which exemplifies how it can be used. The proposed methodology can improve the analysis, interpretation and reporting of channel measurement results.