Performance Analysis of Tri-Sector Reflector Antennas for HAPS-Based Cellular Networks
This work addresses the problem of enhancing mobile connectivity for users in dense urban environments by exploring HAPS-based cellular networks, but it is incremental as it builds on existing NTN and antenna technologies.
The paper evaluated the performance of 5G non-terrestrial networks using HAPS-based base stations with tri-sector reflector antennas in dense urban areas, showing that inter-cell interference is a primary constraint and that reflector configuration and altitude are key design parameters, with results based on average SINR and throughput simulations.
The increasing demand for ubiquitous, highcapacity mobile connectivity has driven cellular systems to explore beyond-terrestrial deployments. In this paper, we present a system-level performance evaluation of fifth-generation (5G) non-terrestrial network (NTN) enabled by high-altitude platform station (HAPS)-based base stations (BSs) equipped with tri-sectoral reflector antennas against fourth-generation (4G) terrestrial network (TN) and 5G TN deployments in a multicell dense urban environment. Using the simulation results comprising the average effective downlink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and the average user throughput, along with the subsequent interference analysis, we demonstrate that the reflector-based HAPS architecture is primarily constrained by inter-cell interference, while the combination of reflector configuration and deployment altitude represents a key design parameter.