A High Altitude Platform-Based 3D Geometrical Channel Model for Beamforming Characterization in Future 6G Flying Ad-Hoc Networks

Abstract: Growing requirements of future wireless communication systems, such as high data rates, high reliability, and low latency, make the active usage of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) an inevitable necessity. In this regard, High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) have drawn great attention in recent years due to their unique characteristics such as high coverage, long operational durability, and ad-hoc movement. However, for the active usage of HAPs, channel models for their various usage scenarios must be well-defined, especially in those cases where the sophisticated multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques, such as beamforming, are utilized to increase the data rate. Therefore, in this study, an air-to-air (A2A) three dimensional (3D) geometrical channel model is proposed to characterize the beamforming capabilities of non-stationary HAP networks operating at millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency band. In this regard, the 3D geometry of the two HAPs in the air is analyzed, and the effect of Doppler due to the movement of HAPs is interrogated as well as its effect on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The final outputs of this study show that the proposed A2A channel model is applicable to characterize the future sixth generation (6G) HAP networks when the mmWave is used to utilize beamforming with a large number of antennas.