This paper presents a performance evaluation of 60 GHz high-speed radio systems under an application scenario related to a medical operation. The evaluation is based on the following specifications: IEEE 802.15.3c and IEEE 802.11ad, which have been designed to provide data rates of multi-Gbps at physical layer. First, by using measured power delay profiles (PDPs) in hospital environments, both inter-symbol-interference (ISI) and channel capacity are calculated. Then, system simulations are carried out in order to show achievable throughputs. The results reveal that OFDM systems provide the required throughput for the application scenario in all the measured PDPs. On the other hand, the single carrier (SC) systems without any equalization are limited to 85 % of the measured PDPs where the required throughput is achieved. Also, it is shown that the calculated channel capacity for each measured PDP reveals the similar trend with the available throughputs obtained from the system simulations.

The incorporation of new services in handheld devices, such as the Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) operating at the lower ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) band poses a challenge for antenna designers. Wideband small antennas or electrically tunable narrowband small antennas are needed to fulfil the performance requirement. It is well known that below 900 MHz the operation of embedded mobile terminal antennas is based on utilizing the whole structure of the terminal as a radiator. However, even this way reaching the whole required impedance bandwidth of about 46% at about 0.61-GHz center frequency is possible only either with clamshell-type terminals used as thick dipoles by feeding them from the hinge or with “large tablet”-sized terminals. With the popular smartphone-sized terminals with a monoblock structure the available bandwidth with good total efficiency is clearly smaller. We study the options to implement antennas for smartphone-type mobiles for receiving digital TV broadcasts at about 0.47-0.75-GHz frequencies. The mainly studied technology is the nonresonant capacitive coupling element (CCE)-type antennas having one of the smallest achieved volume-to-bandwidth ratios. We show that for a fixed-frequency antenna with a volume of less than a few cubic centimeters the total efficiency will become rather low due to moderate matching level, but the requirement of the DVB-H standard for the realized gain can easily be met. Additionally, we show that by having switching between two bands, one can implement a dual-antenna configuration with small total volume and significant multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) gain. Furthermore, we study the very important effect of the user's hands on the antenna performance and find that the effect can range from some increase of the total efficiency due to improved matching to significant losses caused by the hands. Finally, we propose some possible ways ahead in solving this very challenging antenna design problem.

This letter presents radio channel measurements and modeling results for the feasibility study of 60 GHz high-speed radio systems in hospital environments. Two possible applications of those systems are considered: real-time video streaming for angiography and for ultrasonic inspection. Channel modeling was performed for the path loss and multipath characteristics of the propagation channel, i.e., the delay spreads. Results revealed generally lower path loss and delay spread values compared to regular indoor office and residential environments. The results indicate that the 60 GHz radio systems operating in hospital environments can provide better signal quality and wider coverage than those operated in regular indoor environments, though increased interference with neighboring cells might be an unfortunate consequence.

This report describes results from 60 GHz channel measurements and modelling in a shielded room. Final goal of this work is to investigate potential and feasibility of 60 GHz radios for very-high-data-rate short-range communications in medical applications. The measurement in a shielded room is meaningful for studying propagation characteristics in medical applications, since real surgery rooms are typically shielded. One particular usage scenario, i.e., real-time video streaming for ultrasonic imaging, was considered, where the antenna settings were adjusted to the usage scenario accordingly. Link budget and delay domain multipath characteristics were analyzed and modelled. Finally, model parameters that fit the measured power delay profiles were given.