Beam switching support to resolve link-blockage problem in 60 GHz WPANs

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a solution to resolve link blockage problem in 60 GHz WPANs. Line-of-Sight (LOS) link is easily blocked by a moving person, which is concerned as one of the severe problems in 60 GHz systems. Beamforming is a feasible technique to resolve link blockage by switching the beam path from LOS link to a Non-LOS (NLOS) link. We propose and evaluate two kinds of Beam Switching (BS) mechanisms: instant decision based BS and environment learning based BS. We examine these mechanisms in a typical indoor WPAN scenario. Extensive simulations have been carried out, and our results reveal that combining angle-of-arrival with the received signal to noise ratio could make better decision for beam switching. Our work provides valuable observations for beam switching during point-to-point communication using 60 GHz radio.