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Journal of Microwave Engineering and Technologies Review Article

Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Propagation Models for 5G and 6G Communication Systems: A Comprehensive Review

  1. Shriya Joshi ✉ UG Student, Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, SKN Sinhgad College of Engineering, Pandharpur, Maharashtra
  2. Vaibhav Godase Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering   SKN Sinhgad College of Engineering, Pandharpur, Maharashtra

Abstract

The evolution of fifth-generation (5G) and emerging sixth-generation (6G) wireless systems is driving the use of wider bandwidths, large antenna arrays, directional transmission, higher carrier frequencies, and increasingly dynamic network topologies. These developments make accurate radio-propagation models essential for coverage prediction, link-budget design, beamforming, mobility management, interference analysis, and system-level evaluation. Conventional sub-6-GHz models cannot always represent the propagation behaviour encountered in millimeter-wave (mmWave), upper-mid-band, and sub-terahertz (sub-THz) scenarios, where blockage, atmospheric absorption, material-dependent reflection, diffuse scattering, sparse multipath, near-field effects, and spatial non- stationarity can become important. This review examines the physical foundations and principal modelling approaches used for 5G and 6G channels, including empirical path-loss models, statistical fading models, geometry- based stochastic channel models, deterministic ray tracing, measurement-driven models, and hybrid or data-driven frameworks. Particular attention is given to the 3GPP TR 38.901 framework, the NYUSIM family of measurement- based models, and emerging Release 19 enhancements relevant to 6G. Propagation effects such as free-space attenuation, shadowing, penetration loss, atmospheric and rain attenuation, Doppler, delay and angular dispersion, polarization, blockage, and mobility are discussed in relation to their impact on channel representation. The review also considers indoor, urban microcell, urban macrocell, rural macrocell, vehicular, industrial, high-speed, and non- terrestrial scenarios. A comparative assessment identifies the strengths and limitations of each modelling family and proposes a practical workflow for selecting, calibrating, and validating models. Recent standardization activity indicates that the established 0.5–100 GHz channel-model foundation is being extended to better address upper-mid- band and 6G characteristics, including near-field propagation and spatial non-stationarity [1–4]. The paper concludes that no single model is universally optimal: model selection must be driven by the target frequency, environment, antenna configuration, mobility, required fidelity, and computational budget.

Keywords

References (27)

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