Experimental Assessment of Human Blockage at sub-THz and mmWave Frequency Bands

The fifth generation (5G) of mobile communications relies on extremely high data transmissions using a large variety of frequency bands, such as FR1 (sub-6 GHz) and FR2 (mmWave). Future mobile communications envisage using electromagnetic spectrum beyond FR2, i.e. above 100 GHz, known as sub-THz band. These new frequencies open up challenging scenarios where communications shall rely on a major contribution such as the line-of-sight (LoS) component. To the best of the authors' knowledge, for the first time in literature this work studies the human blockage effects over an extremely wide frequency band from 75 GHz to 215 GHz given: (i) the distance between the blocker and the antennas and (ii) the body orientation. Furthermore, the obtained results are modeled with the classical path loss models and compared to 3GPP alternatives. The average losses increase from 42 dB to 56 dB when frequency rises from 75 GHz to 215 GHz. In terms of distance, a 18 dB increment in the received power is found when the Tx--Rx separation is increased from 1 m to 2.5 m. Finally, the blocker orientation induces variations of up to 4.6 dB.