Wireless networking with directional antennas for 60 GHz systems

Abstract

60 GHz wireless networks have the potential to support high data rate applications, but have short range transmission limitations due to larger propagation losses and reduced diffraction around obstacles. On the other hand, directional antennas are easier to implement at millimeter wavelengths and can provide benefits such as spatial reuse and higher transmission range. This paper proposes a network architecture for 60 GHz wireless personal area networks (WPANs) using directional antennas. It describes protocols for neighbor discovery, medium access, and multi-hop route establishment that exploit directional antennas to improve network performance and maintain connectivity. As a result, the proposed method can be used as a practical, low-cost solution to overcome the difficulty of short range and large propagation loss in 60 GHz systems.