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arxiv: 2603.21920 · v2 · submitted 2026-03-23 · 📡 eess.SY · cs.SY

Performance Analysis of Tri-Sector Reflector Antennas for HAPS-Based Cellular Networks

German Svistunov , Matteo Bernabe , David Lopez-Perez This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-15 00:55 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification 📡 eess.SY cs.SY
keywords HAPStri-sector reflector antennasnon-terrestrial networksinter-cell interference5G NTNcellular networksperformance analysisdense urban deployment
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The pith

Tri-sector reflector antennas on HAPS platforms are mainly limited by inter-cell interference, with configuration and altitude as key design parameters.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper conducts system-level simulations to compare 5G non-terrestrial networks using high-altitude platform stations equipped with tri-sector reflector antennas against 4G and 5G terrestrial networks in a dense urban multicell setting. It measures average effective downlink SINR and user throughput to identify performance bottlenecks. The analysis concludes that inter-cell interference forms the primary constraint on the reflector-based HAPS architecture. Reflector configuration combined with deployment altitude emerges as the central tunable element for system design.

Core claim

Using simulation results for average effective downlink SINR and average user throughput, together with interference analysis, the paper demonstrates that the reflector-based HAPS architecture is primarily constrained by inter-cell interference, while the combination of reflector configuration and deployment altitude represents a key design parameter.

What carries the argument

Tri-sectoral reflector antenna configuration on HAPS base stations, which shapes sector coverage and controls the spatial distribution of interference in multicell deployments.

If this is right

  • Inter-cell interference must be addressed explicitly when deploying reflector-equipped HAPS base stations.
  • Joint optimization of reflector geometry and platform altitude directly affects achievable SINR and throughput.
  • HAPS performance in dense urban areas deviates from terrestrial network behavior primarily due to interference patterns.
  • Design choices for reflectors and altitude offer concrete levers to improve effective downlink performance.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • Dynamic altitude adjustment during operation could further reduce interference beyond static configurations.
  • The interference-limited regime may favor frequency reuse patterns or coordination techniques tailored to aerial platforms.
  • Similar reflector-based designs could be tested on lower-altitude platforms such as UAVs for localized coverage.

Load-bearing premise

The simulation models for propagation, user distribution, and antenna patterns in a dense urban multicell environment accurately capture real-world conditions and interference statistics.

What would settle it

Direct field measurements of downlink SINR and throughput from a real HAPS reflector deployment at multiple altitudes in dense urban terrain would falsify the central claim if they show inter-cell interference is not the dominant limit or if reflector configuration and altitude produce negligible changes.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 2603.21920 by David Lopez-Perez, German Svistunov, Matteo Bernabe.

Figure 1
Figure 1. Figure 1: NTN deployment scenario over a hexagonal grid (a), reflector [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p003_1.png] view at source ↗
Figure 2
Figure 2. Figure 2: Average effective SINR (left) and UE throughput (right) of the [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p005_2.png] view at source ↗
Figure 4
Figure 4. Figure 4: HAPS-based NTN vs. TN deployment: UE CDFs for SINR, [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p006_4.png] view at source ↗
read the original abstract

The increasing demand for ubiquitous, highcapacity mobile connectivity has driven cellular systems to explore beyond-terrestrial deployments. In this paper, we present a system-level performance evaluation of fifth-generation (5G) non-terrestrial network (NTN) enabled by high-altitude platform station (HAPS)-based base stations (BSs) equipped with tri-sectoral reflector antennas against fourth-generation (4G) terrestrial network (TN) and 5G TN deployments in a multicell dense urban environment. Using the simulation results comprising the average effective downlink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and the average user throughput, along with the subsequent interference analysis, we demonstrate that the reflector-based HAPS architecture is primarily constrained by inter-cell interference, while the combination of reflector configuration and deployment altitude represents a key design parameter.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Referee Report

2 major / 1 minor

Summary. The manuscript presents a system-level simulation study of 5G NTN deployments using HAPS equipped with tri-sector reflector antennas in a multicell dense urban environment. It compares average effective downlink SINR and user throughput against 4G TN and 5G TN baselines and concludes that the reflector-based HAPS architecture is primarily constrained by inter-cell interference, with reflector configuration and deployment altitude serving as the key design parameters.

Significance. If the underlying propagation, antenna, and user-distribution models prove representative, the work supplies concrete guidance on interference management and altitude/reflector trade-offs for HAPS-based cellular systems, an area of growing practical interest for NTN coverage extension.

major comments (2)
  1. [Simulation Setup] Simulation Setup (presumed section describing propagation and antenna models): the interference-dominance conclusion rests on specific choices for path-loss exponents, shadowing variance, user spatial distribution, and tri-sector reflector patterns, yet the manuscript provides neither comparison to 3GPP NTN channel models nor any sensitivity sweeps over plausible parameter ranges; without these, the headline finding cannot be considered robust.
  2. [Results] Results section (SINR and throughput plots): reported averages lack error bars, confidence intervals, or Monte-Carlo repetition counts, so it is impossible to judge whether the observed inter-cell interference dominance is statistically distinguishable from noise or intra-cell effects under the chosen modeling assumptions.
minor comments (1)
  1. [Abstract] Abstract: the phrase 'subsequent interference analysis' is not linked to any explicit quantitative metric beyond the already-mentioned SINR and throughput figures.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

2 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the insightful comments on our manuscript. We address each major comment below and indicate the revisions we will make to improve the robustness and clarity of our results.

read point-by-point responses

  1. Referee: [Simulation Setup] Simulation Setup (presumed section describing propagation and antenna models): the interference-dominance conclusion rests on specific choices for path-loss exponents, shadowing variance, user spatial distribution, and tri-sector reflector patterns, yet the manuscript provides neither comparison to 3GPP NTN channel models nor any sensitivity sweeps over plausible parameter ranges; without these, the headline finding cannot be considered robust.

    Authors: Our simulation setup employs a standard dense urban path-loss model with parameters tuned for HAPS altitudes, as described in Section III-A. We agree that additional validation against 3GPP NTN channel models would enhance robustness. In the revised manuscript, we will add a comparison to the 3GPP NTN models and include sensitivity sweeps over path-loss exponents and shadowing variances to show the persistence of inter-cell interference dominance. revision: yes

  2. Referee: [Results] Results section (SINR and throughput plots): reported averages lack error bars, confidence intervals, or Monte-Carlo repetition counts, so it is impossible to judge whether the observed inter-cell interference dominance is statistically distinguishable from noise or intra-cell effects under the chosen modeling assumptions.

    Authors: We appreciate this observation. In the revised version, we will report the number of Monte-Carlo repetitions performed for each result and add error bars to the SINR and throughput plots to indicate the statistical variability and confidence intervals. revision: yes

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity in simulation-based interference analysis

full rationale

The paper derives its central claim—that the reflector-based HAPS architecture is primarily constrained by inter-cell interference and that reflector configuration plus altitude is a key design parameter—directly from system-level simulation outputs of average effective downlink SINR and user throughput. No step in the presented chain reduces by construction to a fitted parameter, self-definition, or load-bearing self-citation; the interference-dominance conclusion follows from comparing simulated signal, interference, and noise components under the chosen models. The derivation remains self-contained against the external simulation assumptions and does not invoke uniqueness theorems or ansatzes that loop back to the target result.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

The central claim rests on unstated simulation assumptions about urban propagation, user density, and antenna radiation patterns that are not supplied in the abstract.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5442 in / 1040 out tokens · 18552 ms · 2026-05-15T00:55:09.250615+00:00 · methodology

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Citations machine-checked in the Pith Canon. Every link opens the source theorem in the public Lean library.

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Reference graph

Works this paper leans on

15 extracted references · 15 canonical work pages · 1 internal anchor

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