A review of antennas and propagation for MIMO wireless communications

Multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems use multiple antenna elements at transmit and receive to offer improved capacity over single antenna topologies in multipath channels. In such systems, the antenna properties as well as the multipath channel characteristics play a key role in determining communication performance. This paper reviews recent research findings concerning antennas and propagation in MIMO systems. Issues considered include channel capacity computation, channel measurement and modeling approaches, and the impact of antenna element properties and array configuration on system performance. Throughout the discussion, outstanding research questions in these areas are highlighted.     

Diffused Channel Estimation and Reception for Cyclic Prefix-free MC-CDMA Arrayed-MIMO Communication Systems

An arrayed-MIMO communication system, which employs antenna arrays at both ends of the wireless link is proposed to leverage upon spatial information such as directions-of-arrival to achieve an improvement in performance. This is in contrast with conventional MIMO systems, which typically assume multiple independent antenna elements at the transmitters and receivers. This paper focuses on an arrayed-MIMO communication system operating over a frequency selective fading channel and employs MC-CDMA as the modulation technique. However, in a departure from conventional MC-CDMA systems, cyclic prefixes or guard intervals are not used for the MC-CDMA system employed here so that valuable bandwidth is not wasted on cyclic prefixes or guard intervals. Localized scattering is assumed to occur for each multipath; hence the wireless channel is modelled as a diffused vector channel. A robust blind estimation method is presented to estimate the parameters of the spatially diffused channel, followed by reception based on these parameters. The feasibility of the proposed system is supported by simulation results.     

无线通信系统的MIMO信道测量与建模

在多径信道中,使用多天线的M IMO(多输入多输出)无线系统能够比单天线系统提供更高的信道容量,而信道测量与建模是决定通信性能的一个重要因素。文中对目前国际范围内现有的M IMO信道测量和建模进行了研究,并进行了归纳和分类,同时分析了M IMO信道测量和建模的方法,指出了目前信道测量和建模中存在的问题,并给出了一些针对M IMO信道测量系统设计的建议。     

On the capacity of OFDM-based spatial multiplexing systems

This paper deals with the capacity behavior of wireless orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based spatial multiplexing systems in broad-band fading environments for the case where the channel is unknown at the transmitter and perfectly known at the receiver. Introducing a physically motivated multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) broad-band fading channel model, we study the influence of physical parameters such as the amount of delay spread, cluster angle spread, and total angle spread, and system parameters such as the number of antennas and antenna spacing on ergodic capacity and outage capacity. We find that, in the MIMO case, unlike the single-input single-output (SISO) case, delay spread channels may provide advantages over flat fading channels not only in terms of outage capacity but also in terms of ergodic capacity. Therefore, MIMO delay spread channels will in general provide both higher diversity gain and higher multiplexing gain than MIMO flat fading channels     

Selecting array configurations for MIMO systems: an evolutionary computation approach

This paper presents an antenna selection method for multiple-input multiple-output wireless systems. By exploitation of the channel transfer matrix, the antenna selection criterion is the maximization of the instantaneous capacity achieved using a specific number of transmitting and receiving antenna array elements. For each environment, the proposed method applies a genetic algorithm which seeks the most advantageous subset of antenna elements. The results are based on measured and simulated channels and show that the proposed method selects array configurations that yield superior performance compared to the arrays usually employed. Furthermore, comparative analysis results are presented, with respect to a state-of-the-art algorithm.     

Wide-band SIMO 1/spl times/2 measurements and characterization of outdoor wireless channels at 1.9 GHz

This paper aims at characterizing the spatial wireless channel at 1.9 GHz, based on a 1/spl times/2 measurement chain. A typical campus/residential area and an industrial area have been investigated. The measurement equipment is constituted by an 80-MHz transmitter at 1.9 GHz, located at the top of a building. At the receiver, two omnidirectional antennas are connected to a wide-band channel sounder through a switch in order to measure an estimate of the instantaneous vector channel. It is found that the Ricean K-factor and the delay spread are lognormally distributed, while the azimuth spread at the receive side follows a Gaussian distribution. The range dependence of various parameters are pointed out and compared with empirical models. The impacts of antenna spacing and array orientation on the channel correlation are highlighted and compared to theoretical simulation results. Finally, the cross-correlation properties between K-factor, delay spread, azimuth spread, and channel correlation are analyzed.     

自适应重构天线设计与MIMO系统空域相关性分析

紧凑空间移动终端中双圆极化可重构天线由于间距小,天线间相关性强,直接影响到系统的信道容量。该文从理论的角度研究可重构天线参数(旋向和轴比)、环境参数(信道交叉极化鉴别率和入射角)与相关性的关系,该文还研究了如何通过上述参数的调整降低天线相关性,最后根据理论分析和仿真结果提出自适应重构天线的设计方法,为在MIMO系统小型移动终端极化可重构天线的设计提供理论参考。     

Reduced dimension space-time processing for multi-antenna wireless systems

The need for wireless communication systems has grown rapidly during the last few years. Moreover, there is a steady growth in the required data rates due to the fact that more and more users request high-bit-rate services. To meet those requirements, current and next-generation wireless systems and networks such as wireless LANs (e.g., IEEE 802.11a) will support much higher data rates compared with established standards. This is basically done by applying advanced transmission schemes and usage of bandwidth resources. Another very promising approach is the introduction of multiple antennas at one or both ends of a link to exploit the spatial dimension of signal transmission for improved link quality and enhanced system capacity. Smart antenna concepts are extensively discussed in this context. The application of concepts with multiple antennas necessitates the introduction of more advanced and computational expensive transmitter and receiver structures, where space-time (ST) processing techniques are required to carry out spatial and temporal information processing jointly. This article introduces a new ST processing concept to enable reduced dimension ST receiver signal processing. The signal dimension can be considerably reduced compared to the number of antennas by exploiting spatial correlation properties of the received antenna signals. The associated signal transformation applies the concept of the Karhunen-Loeve transformation (KLT). A great advantage of the proposed ST processing concept over traditional multiple antenna approaches is the insensitivity of the algorithms to the antenna characteristics and antenna spacing, which allows the use of low-cost antennas. Another significant advantage of the proposed concept is more robust channel estimation due to spatial dimension reduction and the resulting limitation of estimation parameters.     

Deconstructing multiantenna fading channels

Accurate and tractable channel modeling is critical to realizing the full potential of antenna arrays in wireless communications. Current approaches represent two extremes: idealized statistical models representing a rich scattering environment and parameterized physical models that describe realistic scattering environments via the angles and gains associated with different propagation paths. However, simple rules that capture the effects of scattering characteristics on channel capacity and diversity are difficult to infer from existing models. We propose an intermediate virtual channel representation that captures the essence of physical modeling and provides a simple geometric interpretation of the scattering environment. The virtual representation corresponds to a fixed coordinate transformation via spatial basis functions defined by fixed virtual angles. We show that in an uncorrelated scattering environment, the elements of the channel matrix form a segment of a stationary process and that the virtual channel coefficients are approximately uncorrelated samples of the underlying spectral representation. For any scattering environment, the virtual channel matrix clearly reveals the two key factors affecting capacity: the number of parallel channels and the level of diversity. The concepts of spatial zooming and aliasing are introduced to provide a transparent interpretation of the effect of antenna spacing on channel statistics and capacity. Numerical results are presented to illustrate various aspects of the virtual framework.     

Experimental studies of spatial signature variation at 900 MHz forsmart antenna systems

A spatial signature is the response vector of a base-station antenna array to a mobile unit at a certain location. Mobile subscribers at different locations exhibit different spatial signatures. The exploitation of spatial diversity (or the difference of spatial signatures) is the basic idea behind the so-called space-division multiple-access (SDMA) scheme, which can be used to significantly increase the channel capacity and quality of a wireless communication system. Although SDMA schemes have been studied by a number of researchers, most of these studies are based on theoretical analyses and computer simulations with ideal assumptions. Not much experimental study, has been reported on spatial signature variation due to nonideal perturbations in a real wireless communication environment. The purpose of this paper is to present, for the first time, extensive experimental results of spatial signature variation using a smart antenna testbed. The results presented include the spatial signature variation with time, frequency, small displacement, multipath angle spread and beamforming performance. The experimental results show the rich spatial diversity and potential benefits of using an antenna array for wireless communication applications     

Limited feedback unitary precoding for spatial multiplexing systems

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems use antenna arrays at both the transmitter and receiver to provide communication links with substantial diversity and capacity. Spatial multiplexing is a common space-time modulation technique for MIMO communication systems where independent information streams are sent over different transmit antennas. Unfortunately, spatial multiplexing is sensitive to ill-conditioning of the channel matrix. Precoding can improve the resilience of spatial multiplexing at the expense of full channel knowledge at the transmitter-which is often not realistic. This correspondence proposes a quantized precoding system where the optimal precoder is chosen from a finite codebook known to both receiver and transmitter. The index of the optimal precoder is conveyed from the receiver to the transmitter over a low-delay feedback link. Criteria are presented for selecting the optimal precoding matrix based on the error rate and mutual information for different receiver designs. Codebook design criteria are proposed for each selection criterion by minimizing a bound on the average distortion assuming a Rayleigh-fading matrix channel. The design criteria are shown to be equivalent to packing subspaces in the Grassmann manifold using the projection two-norm and Fubini-Study distances. Simulation results show that the proposed system outperforms antenna subset selection and performs close to optimal unitary precoding with a minimal amount of feedback.     

B3G空中接口技术分析--MIMO信道测量

在多径信道中,使用多天线的MIMO无线系统能够比单天线系统提供更高的信道容量,而信道测量是决定通信性能的一个重要因素。对目前国际范围内现有的MIMO信道测量进行了研究,并做了归纳和分类。此外,对MIMO信道测量方法进行了分析,并给出了一些针对MIMO信道测量系统设计的建议,为B3G空中接口技术研究提供了技术支持。     

Spherical Wave Model for Short-Range MIMO

Spherical Wave Model for Short-Range MIMO The plane-wave assumption has been used extensively in array signal processing, parameter estimation, and wireless channel modeling to simplify analysis. It is suitable for single-input-single-output (SISO) and single-input-multiple-output (SIMO) systems, because the rank of the channel matrix is one. However, for short-range multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) channels with a line-of-straight (LOS) component, the plane wave assumption affects the rank and singular value distribution of the MIMO channel matrix, and results in the underestimation of the channel capacity, especially for element spacings exceeding half a wavelength. The short-range geometry could apply to many indoor wireless local area network (WLAN) applications. To avoid this underestimation problem, the received single phases must depend precisely on the distances between transmit and receive antenna elements. With this correction, the capacity of short-range LOS MIMO channels grows steadily as the element spacing exceeds half a wavelength, as confirmed by measurements at 5.8 GHz. In contrast, the capacity growth with element spacing diminishes significantly under the plane-wave assumption. Using empirical fitting, we provide a threshold distance below which the spherical wave model is required for accurate performance estimation in ray tracing.     

Dynamics of spatial correlation and implications on MIMO systems

The use of multiple antennas has found various applications in the area of wireless communications. One such application has recently become very popular and is referred to as the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system. The main idea behind MIMO is to establish independent parallel channels between multiple transmit and receive antennas. Each channel uses the same frequency, and the transmissions occur simultaneously. In such a configuration, the amount of data transmitted increases linearly with the number of parallel channels, which is what makes MIMO so popular in the wireless world. The enormous capacity offered by MIMO systems is not realizable when the parallel channels are highly correlated. The goal of this article is to highlight the correlation concept and its impact on MIMO systems. Although correlation can be defined in many dimensions, here we focus on spatial correlation, and specifically consider antenna correlations in mobile units. We provide an overview of spatial correlation and present its underlying parameters in detail. Special attention is given to mutual coupling since it has signal decorrelation and antenna gain reduction effects. We then present how correlation in a MIMO system affects the amount of data that can be transmitted (MIMO capacity) and briefly review how power should be distributed with the knowledge of correlation. Analyses indicate that in real propagation environments, the high capacity gain of MIMO systems can be realized with improved antenna selection algorithms and power allocation strategies.     

Measurement‐based link scheduling for maritime mesh networks with directional antennas

The proliferation of wireless transceivers and the availability of the unlicensed band has given a boost to the deployment of wireless networks, with IEEE802.11/WiFi being the major driver in this arena. In this research, we consider a wireless mesh network designed for long‐distance communication with a typical deployment scenario of a maritime mesh network. This network uses an antenna system made up of multiple fixed‐beamwidth antennas. Compared to most other directional antenna schemes which use directional antenna for transmission and omni‐directional antenna for reception, our system uses directional antennas for both transmission and reception where a pair of transmitter–receiver antennas needs to be aligned and have an acceptable channel quality before transmission can take place. Through efficient use of directional antennas for both transmission and reception, and spatial reuse in transmission, we are able to realize a high‐capacity mesh network. In this paper, we present a practical approach to achieve contention‐free medium access, namely, a measurement‐based link‐scheduling algorithm. We evaluate the performance of the link‐scheduling algorithm using simulations and show that it is able to exploit the spatial diversity provided by the directional antennas to outperform comparable schemes for wireless mesh networks. We also briefly discuss implementation issues to demonstrate the viability of the approach. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance analysis of convolutionally coded DS-CDMA systems with spatial and temporal channel correlations

Combined spatial and temporal processing has been shown to increase the potential link capacity enormously for wireless communication systems, especially when the channels between different transmit and receive antenna pairs are uncorrelated. We consider both spatial and temporal channel correlations that may be encountered in space-time processing and present the performance analysis of convolutionally coded direct-sequence code-division multiple-access systems. An upper bound for the average bit-error probability (P~/sub b/) is derived for the case of perfect channel estimation, and an analytical approximation for P~/sub b/ is derived in the case of erroneous channel estimates. The analytical approach is general enough to be applicable to various space- and time-diversity situations, such as wideband multipath channels and antenna arrays.     

Outdoor MIMO wireless channels: models and performance prediction

We present a new model for multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) outdoor wireless fading channels and their capacity performance. The proposed model is more general and realistic than the usual independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) model, and allows us to investigate the behavior of channel capacity as a function of the scattering radii at transmitter and receiver, distance between the transmit and receive arrays, and antenna beamwidths and spacing. We show how the MIMO capacity is governed by spatial fading correlation and the condition number of the channel matrix through specific sets of propagation parameters. The proposed model explains the existence of "pinhole" channels which exhibit low spatial fading correlation at both ends of the link but still have poor rank properties, and hence, low ergodic capacity. In fact, the model suggests the existence of a more general family of channels spanning continuously from full rank i.i.d. to low-rank pinhole cases. We suggest guidelines for predicting high rank (and hence, high ergodic capacity) in MIMO channels, and show that even at long ranges, high channel rank can easily be sustained under mild scattering conditions. Finally, we validate our results by simulations using ray tracing techniques. Connections with basic antenna theory are made.     

Performance predictions for cellular switched-beam intelligentantenna systems

This article presents simple formulas which are helpful in predicting interference reduction and capacity increase provided by switched-beam intelligent antenna systems for cellular telecommunications. The key element of this type of intelligent antenna system is an m×M switching matrix where m is the number of beams and M is the number of radio channel units. The system capacity is related to the complexity of the switching matrix. A 12-beam switched-beam antenna system can provide 100 percent capacity increase over a conventional three-sector (three-beam) antenna system     

Space-time block codes: a capacity perspective

Space-time block codes are a remarkable modulation scheme discovered recently for the multiple antenna wireless channel. They have an elegant mathematical solution for providing full diversity over the coherent, flat-fading channel. In addition, they require extremely simple encoding and decoding. Although these codes provide full diversity at low computational costs, we show that they incur a loss in capacity because they convert the matrix channel into a scalar AWGN channel whose capacity is smaller than the true channel capacity. In this letter the loss in capacity is quantified as a function of channel rank, code rate, and number of receive antennas     

Characteristics of vector propagation channels in dynamic mobilescenarios

In wireless communications, the performance of a smart antenna system depends heavily upon vector channels describing channel propagation between an antenna array and a mobile subscriber. The smart antennas perform quite well in stationary mobile environments in which channel propagation characteristics are stable. However, in dynamic wireless environments where the mobile user is in motion, knowledge of how vector channels are affected is necessary for the proper operation of smart antennas. Here, we experimentally investigate the variation of vector channel parameters such as spatial signatures, directions-of-arrival (DOAs), and complex path attenuations with small movement (2λ) of the mobile under typical line-of-sight (LOS), line-of-sight with local scatterer (LOSLS), and nonline-of-sight (NLOS) propagation scenarios. The experiments are conducted using a 1.8-GHz smart antenna testbed developed at The University of Texas at Austin and a mobile transmitter. The results show that with small displacements, DOAs remain approximately unchanged and spatial signatures change due primarily to complex attenuations. Spatial signatures are very susceptible to the movement in the NLOS scenario, reaching up to 90% relative angle change within 2λ displacement. However, in the LOS scenario, they exhibit small and periodic fluctuations with a period of 0.6λ