Indoor MIMO Channel Measurements of the Near-Field to Far-Field Transition in FR3

Abstract

This paper presents an in-depth study of the nearfield (NF) to far-field (FF) transition in MIMO systems from 6 GHz to 24 GHz, which largely coincides with the frequency range 3 (FR3). A high-resolution dataset is contributed, derived from a channel sounding campaign conducted using a virtual uniform linear array (ULA) in an indoor environment. To observe the NF to FF transition we varied the ULA size while maintaining a fixed distance between the transmitter and receiver. Our findings confirm that the Fraunhofer distance provides a reliable indicator for the onset of FF conditions, offering new insights into optimizing MIMO performance for future wireless communication networks. The dataset and analysis serve as a valuable resource for further exploration of NF propagation and can be used as a study item itself or to validate NF capable channel models.