The optimization of multiple antenna broadband wireless communications. A study of propagation, space-time coding and spatial envelope correlation in Multiple Input, Multiple Output radio systems

Abstract

This work concentrates on the application of diversity techniques and space time block coding for future mobile wireless communications. The initial system analysis employs a space-time coded OFDM transmitter over a multipath Rayleigh channel, and a receiver which uses a selection combining diversity technique. The performance of this combined scenario is characterised in terms of the bit error rate and throughput. A novel four element QOSTBC scheme is introduced, it is created by reforming the detection matrix of the original QOSTBC scheme, for which an orthogonal channel matrix is derived. This results in a computationally less complex linear decoding scheme as compared with the original QOSTBC. Space time coding schemes for three, four and eight transmitters were also derived using a Hadamard matrix. The practical optimization of multi-antenna networks is studied for realistic indoor and mixed propagation scenarios. The starting point is a detailed analysis of the throughput and field strength distributions for a commercial dual band 802.11n MIMO radio operating indoors in a variety of line of sight and non-line of sight scenarios. The physical model of the space is based on architectural schematics, and realistic propagation data for the construction materials. The modelling is then extended and generalized to a multi-storey indoor environment, and a large mixed site for indoor and outdoor channels based on the Bradford University campus. The implications for the physical layer are also explored through the specification of antenna envelope correlation coefficients. Initially this is for an antenna module configuration with two independent antennas in close proximity. An operational method is proposed using the scattering parameters of the system and which incorporates the intrinsic power losses of the radiating elements. The method is extended to estimate the envelope correlation coefficient for any two elements in a general (N,N) MIMO antenna array. Three examples are presented to validate this technique, and very close agreement is shown to exist between this method and the full electromagnetic analysis using the far field antenna radiation patterns.