The transition to 6G has driven significant updates to the 3GPP channel model, particularly in modeling UE antennas and user-induced blockage for handheld devices. The 3GPP Rel.19 revision of TR 38.901 introduces a more realistic framework that captures directive antenna patterns, practical antenna placements, polarization effects, and element-specific blockage. These updates are based on high-fidelity simulations and measurements of a reference smartphone across multiple frequency ranges. By aligning link- and system-level simulations with real-world device behavior, the new model enables more accurate evaluation of 6G technologies and supports consistent performance assessment across industry and research.
@article{arxiv.2509.10357,
title = {Realistic UE Antennas for 6G in the 3GPP Channel Model},
author = {Simon Svendsen and Dimitri Gold and Christian Rom and Volker Pauli and Vuokko Nurmela},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.10357},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
This is a tutorial paper with a limit of 4500 words, 6 Figures/Tables, and 15 references. The paper is submitted to IEEE Communications Standards Magazine Special issue on 3GPP Rel-19 Features