LiDAR-Aided NLoS Path Identification for Enhanced Indoor mmWave Communication

This paper presents a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) based technique for identifying non-line-of-sight (NLoS) communication paths in indoor millimeter-wave (mmWave) environments. This is achieved by using LiDAR distance and backscattered intensity measurements to i) create a map of the communication environment, and ii) identify a set of potential reflective surfaces for NLoS communication. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed technique, which combines environmental geometry and LiDAR scatter data for ray-tracing, achieves performance comparable to traditional exhaustive search beam training methods, particularly for first-ranked (top1) alternative NLoS paths. This offers a promising solution for enhancing indoor mmWave communications in dynamic environments prone to line-of-sight link blockages without the need for a fully dedicated beam training stage.