Rain fade margin of terrestrial line-of-sight (LOS) links for 5G networks in Peninsular Malaysia

Advanced telecommunication systems are moving toward a high data transfer rate and wider bandwidth. The 5G communication network has recently been implemented for such aims. However, 5G networks operating with high operating frequency (typically above 20 GHz) could lead to impairments because of the atmospheric phenomena mainly precipitation and especially heavy rain. To address this, an optimum rain fade margin for the 5G network in Peninsular Malaysia is proposed using 77 sites of the rain-gauge network, which convert 1-h rain data to 1-min rain data by means of the international telecommunication union recommendation (ITU-R) P.837-7 model. Long-term rain attenuation statistics are obtained from ITU-R P.530-17 and the synthetic storm technique. The predicted rain attenuation is also presented in monthly statistics and in rain attenuation contour maps. The analysis showed that at 99.99% of link availability, the optimum rain fade margin operating at 26 GHz link should be in the range of 6.50 to 10 dB and 7 to 11 dB at 28 GHz link for a 5G network. Such information is useful for network operators and system engineers for the operation of 5G terrestrial microwave links in heavy rain regions.