Modelling Passive Spherical Reflectors to Improve Millimetre Wave Coverage in Corridors

The millimetre wave frequency band presents challenges with coverage into non-line-of-sight regions, resulting in significant shadowing. This can become particularly prevalent in indoor corridor environments where there are many human obstacles. In this work, quarter-sphere reflectors have been investigated to provide additional ray paths along a corridor. Placement of a reflector in the centre or far end of the corridor provided more coverage than a reflector placed directly next to the source. Deployment of multiple reflectors improved coverage, regardless of wall placement, with use of 4 or more reflectors providing coverage to more than 95% of user locations. Furthermore, in cases where more than one reflector is deployed, contributions from multiple reflectors were received at some user locations, leading to increased received power.