Investigation of Water and Mud Effects on the Propagation of Real 5G Signal by Using the Reverberation Chamber

We investigated the propagation condition in a particular environment, such as an area covered by water or mud. In particular, we analyzed the effect on signal propagation in a fifth-generation (5G) wireless communication system in that scenario. The experiments were carried out in a laboratory inside a reverberation chamber that emulates a complex propagation environment, equipped with a 5G base station connected to the TIM live network. We measured: 1) the permittivity of the medium under investigation; 2) the effects of the presence of such mixtures within the propagation environment to test the 5G system by checking the key performance indicators. The chosen situations emulate the radio channel propagation in a hostile scenario such as during a flood, to evaluate the performance of a 5G base station. For the characterization of the medium, we considered its physical properties such as the permittivity, conductivity, and reflection coefficients. Moreover, to assess radio performance of the 5G system, we report the following key performance indicators: RSRP, SINR, CQI, MCS and BLER. Experimental results show that water creates a greater multipath than mud, confirmed by direct measurements of permittivity and conductivity. Furthermore, experiments conducted in the laboratory reveal the same behavior of the propagation scenario in a realistic flood such as the lowering of about 3 dB in terms of RSRP between the normal situation and the flooded scenario.