Influence of Antenna Height on Fading Effects Inside the Factory Floor

Modern automated manufacturing facilities increasingly rely on a growing number of devices that require dependable wireless connectivity. Future communication systems are anticipated to integrate device-to-device communication, enabling nodes to exchange data directly at similar antenna elevations. However, the impact of the antenna height on the performance of radio channel parameters in industrial environments remains insufficiently characterized. This study aims to address this gap by conducting a statistical analysis of large-scale and small-scale fading parameters derived from an extensive measurement dataset collected within an operational factory, where an automated guided vehicle is used as mobile transmitter. The results indicate that antennas positioned at elevations exceeding the surrounding environmental clutter consistently outperform those situated at lower heights in terms of path loss as well as spatial and temporal signal correlation properties. In contrast, antennas situated at intermediate heights exhibit reduced performance regarding path loss and fading. This is attributable to their comparable elevation to obstructing structures, which enhances multipath propagation of the received signal. ... mehrInterestingly, the receiver antenna positioned at a height comparable to that of the transmitter exhibits unexpectedly favorable behavior in the probability distributions of key channel parameters, including the Rician K-factor, coherence bandwidth, and coherence time. This phenomenon is likely attributable to the predominance of ground-reflected multipath components, which exhibit greater attenuation compared to reflections from adjacent metallic structures. Overall, this paper provides further insights into propagation conditions within industrial environments.