The capacity advantage of multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) channels lays in the decomposition of the channel into several spatial sub-channels. Knowledge of the channel at the transmitter can further increase the system capacity. This effect has been theoretically demonstrated. Here we illustrate the potential of channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter using actual channel measurements of a system with 4 transmitters and 4 receivers in an indoor environment, under line-of-sight and non line-of-sight conditions, considering both infinite and finite allowable modulation sizes. We show that CSI at the transmitter is more beneficial in the case of low signal to noise ratio and in cases where the channel richness is limited. In terms of achievable spectral efficiency, 60% of the theoretical capacity can be obtained without advanced coding techniques, as long as eigen mode transmission is used, and the performance is similar for all power and rate allocation schemes that we investigate

In this paper, a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) extension for a third-generation (3G) wireless system is described. The integration of MIMO concepts within the existing UMTS standard and the associated space-time RAKE receiver are explained. An analysis is followed by a description of an actual experimental MIMO transmitter and receiver architecture, both realized on digital signal processors (DSPs) and FPGAs within a precommercial OneBTS base station. It uses four transmit and four receive antennas to achieve downlink data rates up to 1 Mb/s per user with a spreading factor of 32 and the UMTS chip rate of 3.84 MHz. Furthermore, different MIMO detectors are evaluated, comparing their performance and complexity. System performance is evaluated through simulations and indoor over-the-air measurements. Capacity and bit-error rate measurement results are presented.

Narrowband multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) measurements using 16 transmitters and 16 receivers at 2.11 GHz were carried out in Manhattan. High capacities were found for full, as well as smaller array configurations, all within 80% of the fully scattering channel capacity. Correlation model parameters are derived from data. Spatial MIMO channel capacity statistics are found to be well represented by the separate transmitter and receiver correlation matrices, with a median relative error in capacity of 3%, in contrast with the 18% median relative error observed by assuming the antennas to be uncorrelated. A reduced parameter model, consisting of 4 parameters, has been developed to statistically represent the channel correlation matrices. These correlation matrices are, in turn, used to generate H matrices with capacities that are consistent within a few percent of those measured in New York. The spatial channel model reported allows simulations of H matrices for arbitrary antenna configurations. These channel matrices may be used to test receiver algorithms in system performance studies. These results may also be used for antenna array design, as the decay of mobile antenna correlation with antenna separation has been reported here. An important finding for the base transmitter array was that the antennas were largely uncorrelated even at antenna separations as small as two wavelengths.

Multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems have the potential to achieve very high capacities, depending on the propagation environment. Capacity increases as signal correlation decreases. We present the measurements of a MIMO system under strong and weak line-of-sight conditions. The system capacity decreases as the distance from the transmitter increases. Indeed the transmitter correlation increases as the distance increases. The receiver correlation is lower than the transmitter correlation under both propagation conditions.

This paper presents analysis for spatial and temporal variations of multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) channels at the mobile. The channel study is based on the narrowband measurements at 2.11 GHz in Manhattan, New York with 16 transmitting antennas and 16 receiving antennas. Doppler spread and angle of arrival (AOA) are derived from the temporal correlation of field components. The results show that the AOA at the mobile is not uniformly distributed. The restricted AOA distribution results in approximately twice the correlation distance and correlation time than the predicted values from the Jakes (1974) model. The measured median coherence time is at least a few seconds for stationary channels, and 90 ms at a mobile pedestrian speed of 3 km/hr. These observations hold for both vertically and horizontally polarized antennas. The measured median RMS angular spread at the mobile is 22.5/spl deg/ for horizontally polarized antennas and 25.5/spl deg/ for vertically polarized antennas.

We analyze the behavior of a multiple element antenna system in an indoor environment based on the measurements taken in the Lucent Bell Labs building in Crawford Hill, NJ, with a system of 12 transmitters and 15 receivers. In particular, we investigate the capacity behavior with respect to the polarization of the transmitting/receiving elements and the distance between the transmitting and the receiving arrays. The analysis of the power rolloff versus distance clearly demonstrates the different propagation characteristics of the horizontally versus the vertically polarized electric fields. Under strong line-of-sight (LOS) conditions (hallway environment), the power of the horizontally polarized waves falls off faster with distance than that of the vertically polarized fields. Also, the cross-polarization coupling is about -15 dB. Under nonline-of-sight (NLOS) conditions (labs), both polarizations display similar rolloff behavior with distance and the cross-polarization coupling is about 0 dB. There is a power loss of at least 15 dB under NLOS conditions relative to LOS conditions. The average received signal power affects the system capacity. In the hallway, horizontally polarized systems achieve lower capacities than their vertically polarized counterparts. Also the achievable capacity in the labs is much lower than that in the hallway, because of the lower average received power. The comparison of single polarization systems to hybrid polarization systems shows that combined polarization systems perform better in terms of achievable capacity. Therefore, there lies an advantage in using both electric field polarizations. However, under strong LOS conditions the channel itself inherently limits the capacity behavior of the system.

We evaluate the performance of the VBLAST (vertical Bell Labs layered space-time) receiver algorithm in multiple-transmitter/multiple-receiver (MTMR) cellular W-CDMA systems. We assume that the VBLAST algorithm is executed on a symbol level (i.e., on the despread received signal), following a conventional bank of matched filters (correlators). Also, we introduce the concept of virtual antennas. Performance of the algorithm in the presence of intra- and inter-cell multiple-access interference (MAI) is evaluated. System capacity is also studied. The observed system is defined based on the UMTS physical layer and corresponding channel models.

We investigate robust wireless communication in high-scattering propagation environments using multi-element antenna arrays (MEAs) at both transmit and receive sites. A simplified, but highly spectrally efficient space-time communication processing method is presented. The user's bit stream is mapped to a vector of independently modulated equal bit-rate signal components that are simultaneously transmitted in the same band. A detection algorithm similar to multiuser detection is employed to detect the signal components in white Gaussian noise (WGN). For a large number of antennas, a more efficient architecture can offer no more than about 40% more capacity than the simple architecture presented. A testbed that is now being completed operates at 1.9 GHz with up to 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) transmitters and 16 receive antennas. Under ideal operation at 18 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), using 12 transmit antennas and 16 receive antennas (even with uncoded communication), the theoretical spectral efficiency is 36 bit/s/Hz, whereas the Shannon capacity is 71.1 bit/s/Hz. The 36 bits per vector symbol, which corresponds to over 200 billion constellation points, assumes a 5% block error rate (BLER) for 100 vector symbol bursts.