An Analytical Representation of the 3GPP 3D Channel Model Parameters for mmWave Bands

Accurate performance prediction for the emerging 3GPP New Radio (NR) technology over millimeter-wave (mmWave) bands is crucial for the upcoming deployments of 5G and beyond cellular networks, utilizing NR. 3GPP has recently presented a 3D multipath cluster-based mmWave channel model for 5G NR, which captures the salient propagation characteristics of the mmWave bands, allowing for better prediction of mmWave system performance. However, it is difficult to directly employ the 3GPP models for analytical system characterization, as most of the parameters are computed through iterative algorithms. In the paper, we address this problem by presenting a statistical approximation for the important parameters of the 3GPP 3D cluster-based channel model, particularly, zenith angle of arrival and power share of every cluster. We then show how the constructed approximation can be used to analytically derive the performance indicators for mmWave NR systems, including outage probability. We compare the results obtained with our proposed statistical approximation model with those given by state-of-the-art simplified single cluster analytical models as well as illustrate the improvements in the accuracy of results.