An Analytical Model for Efficient Indoor THz Access Point Deployment

Abstract

Ultra-densification of user equipment (UE) and access points (APs) are anticipated to take a toll on the future spectrum needs. Higher frequency bands, such as mmWave ($30$-$300GHz$) and THz spectrum ($0.3$-$10THz$), can be used to cater to the high-throughput needs of ultra-dense networks. These high-frequency bands have a tremendous amount of \textit{green-filed contiguous spectrum}, ranging in hundreds of $GHz$. However, these bands, especially the THz bands, face numerous challenges, such as high spreading, absorption, and penetration losses. To combat these challenges, the THz-APs need to be either equipped with high transmit power, high antenna gains (i.e., narrow antenna beams), or limit the communication to short-ranges. All of these factors are bounded due to technical or economic challenges, which will result in a \textit{"distance-power dilemma"} while deciding on the deployment strategy of THz-APs. In this paper, we present an analytical model to deploy THz-APs in an indoor setting efficiently. We further show through extensive numerical analysis, the optimal number of APs and optimal room length for different blocks of the THz spectrum. Furthermore, these THz-APs need to be efficiently packed to avoid outages due to handoffs, which can add more complexity to the dilemma. To mitigate the packing problem, we propose two solutions over the optimal solution: (a) Radius Increase, and (b) Repeater Assistance, and present an analytical model for each.