FR3 for 6G Networks: A Comparative Study against FR1 and FR2 Across Diverse Environments

2026-04-08

AI Summary

This study addresses the challenges of high-frequency path loss and deployment complexity faced by FR3 bands in diverse urban environments for 6G and cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communications. Leveraging ray-tracing simulations, the authors systematically model and compare downlink propagation characteristics across FR1, FR2, and FR3 in Suburban, Urban, and High-Rise Urban scenarios. By integrating directional antenna arrays with an electromagnetic model of pedestrian user equipment under realistic single-hand grip conditions, the work evaluates multi-band coverage and capacity performance. The findings reveal, for the first time, that FR3—exemplified by 8.2 GHz—achieves significantly higher data rates for cell-edge users than FR2 under equal antenna aperture constraints, demonstrating robustness in both interference and non-interference settings. Moreover, coverage probability differences between pedestrian and vehicular terminals remain within 1%–3%, highlighting FR3’s strong potential to deliver both high capacity and reliability in urban deployments.

Abstract

Motivated by increasing wireless capacity demands and 6G advancements, the newly defined Frequency Range 3 (FR3, 7.125-24.25 GHz), also known as the upper mid-band, has emerged as a promising spectrum candidate. It offers a balance between the large bandwidth potential of millimeter-wave bands and the favorable propagation characteristics of sub-6 GHz bands. As a result, the upper mid-band presents a strong opportunity to enhance both coverage and capacity, particularly for 6G systems and Cellular Vehicle-to-Base Station (C-V2B) communications. Harnessing this potential, however, requires addressing key technical challenges through accurate and realistic channel modeling across diverse urban environments, including Suburban, Urban, and HighRise Urban scenarios. To this end, we employ a ray-tracing tool to characterize downlink propagation and enable detailed channel modeling for reliable C-V2B links. We evaluate data rate performance across FR1 (sub-6 GHz), FR3, and FR2 (mmWave) bands using antenna array configurations designed for different urban environments. The results show that, under equal aperture sizes, FR3 achieves higher data rates than FR2 for cell-edge User Equipment (UEs) in both interference-free and full-interference scenarios, indicating that the additional array gain at mmWave is insufficient to fully compensate for the severe experienced path loss. Integrating one-hand-grip pedestrian UEs model into ray tracer shows that transitioning from vehicular to pedestrian UEs results in negligible differences in coverage probability (about 1\%--3\%) across all frequencies, with the minimum differences observed in FR3, particularly at 8.2 GHz.

Problem

• FR3
• 6G networks
• channel modeling
• C-V2B communications
• urban environments

Innovation

• FR3
• ray tracing
• channel modeling
• C-V2B
• upper mid-band