The prevalent use of unmanned vehicles in military and civilian applications requires the existence of robust and high throughput communication with airborne platforms. Real channel measurements are conducted and the analysis supports the use of MIMO communications for such applications due to its potential throughput advantage. Unique challenges and the ways to address them are described in detail. In particular, the lack of scattering and the blockage of line of sight may lead to rank deficient channel matrices, which are exacerbated due to the absence of channel state information at the transmitter. A variable rate MIMO scheme is proposed to overcome these challenges in order to realize the promising throughput gain afforded by MIMO communication.

In this paper, the capacity of airborne multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication systems with arbitrary alignments of linear transmit and receive antenna arrays is systematically analyzed and the maximum achievable capacity is determined. Based on a general three-dimensional (3D) airborne MIMO communication model, we are able to approximate the airborne MIMO capacity as a function of the transmit and receive antenna array geometry in the 3D space. The capacity approximation is asymptotically tight as the distance between the transmit and receive antenna arrays large compared to their size. Based on the asymptotically tight capacity approximation, we derive an upper bound as well as a lower bound of the airborne MIMO capacity. Interestingly, both the upper and lower bounds are achievable. We also derive a necessary and sufficient condition for airborne MIMO communication systems to achieve the capacity upper bound for any given 3D transceiver antenna array geometry. The necessary and sufficient condition allows us to properly select the system parameters and design airborne MIMO communication systems that reach the best possible performance in terms of system capacity. We prove that when the distance between the transmit and receive antenna arrays is within a certain range, there exists a set of system parameter values (e.g. antenna element separation) for which the capacity of the MIMO communication system achieves the theoretical upper bound and this capacity value is larger than the average capacity of the corresponding conventional MIMO communication system under Rayleigh fading. Finally, we prove that the airborne MIMO capacity converges to the capacity lower bound when the distance between the transmit and receive antenna arrays goes to infinity. Extensive numerical studies included in this paper illustrate and validate our theoretical developments.

In this paper, we develop a methodology to analyze systematically the capacity of airborne MIMO wireless communication systems with linear transmit and receive antenna arrays. Our methodology is based on a general three-dimensional airborne MIMO communication model that we develop to accommodate arbitrary alignments of the transmit and receive antenna arrays. Specifically, we determine an upper bound and a lower bound for the airborne MIMO capacity. Then, we derive a necessary and sufficient condition for airborne MIMO communication systems to achieve the capacity upper bound. The necessary and sufficient condition allows us to properly select the system parameters and design airborne MIMO communication systems that reach the best possible performance in terms of system capacity. We prove that when the distance between the transmit and receive antenna arrays is within a certain range, there exists a set of system parameter values for which the capacity of the MIMO communication system achieves the theoretical upper bound and this capacity value is larger than the average capacity of the corresponding conventional MIMO communication system with Rayleigh fading. We also show that asymptotically, as the distance between the transmit and receive antenna arrays goes to infinity, the capacity of the airborne MIMO system converges to the capacity lower bound. Extensive numerical studies included in this paper illustrate and validate our theoretical developments.

We develop a procedure to compute a lower bound of the sum capacity for the vector Gaussian interference channel (IFC). The obtained lower bound is shown to be tight for the very strong interference case and the procedure can be used to construct an inner bound for the vector Gaussian IFC. Alternatively, orthogonal transmission via frequency division multiplexing is considered and we establish the concavity of the sum rate as a function of the bandwidth allocation factor for the vector channel case. Numerical examples indicate that the achievable sum rate via the superposition code compares favorably with orthogonal transmission. This improvement holds for all interference power levels, a sharp contrast to that of the scalar counterpart

Space-time coding techniques can be used to achieve very high spectral efficiencies in highly scattering environments using multiple transmit and receive antennas. At the remote station, there is usually a more limited space allotted to the antenna array than at the base station. Since the spectral efficiency improves with the number of antennas, one is interested in how many antennas can be crammed into the limited space on the remote station. This paper (Part I of II) addresses some of the issues which affect the allowable density of antennas in the remote station. In particular, the mutual impedance between antenna elements in the remote array and the correlation between the signal and noise fields received by these elements are analyzed for their impact on the channel capacity achievable by such arrays. In particular, we assume the transmitter is radiating from nTelements of uncoupled half-wave dipoles and knows nothing of the channel. A formula is given for the maximum channel capacity to a receiving array of nRelements, coupled to each other in the presence of ambient noise or interference with a uniform angle of arrival distribution. This formula neglects amplifier noise in the receivers. It is shown that the channel capacity is already determined at the terminals of the receiving array, and can not be improved by internal coupling networks following the receiving array. When the propagation is by means of full three-dimensional scattering, the channel capacity is unaffected by mutual coupling in the receiving array

In this paper (Part II of II), we continue examining the use of space–time coding techniques to achieve very high spectral efficiencies in highly scattering environments, using multiple transmit and receive antennas. The goal is to increase as much as possible the number of antenna elements, which is particularly difficult at the remote station, which usually has a more limited space allotted to the antenna array than at the base station. Under the assumption that sky noise was the dominant noise source, Part I addressed the channel-capacity effects of mutual impedance between antenna elements in the remote array, and the correlation between the signal and noise fields received by these elements. In Part II, we consider the same effects under the assumption that amplifier noise is the dominant noise source. The question of how closely the receiving array elements can be spaced depends on how precisely the channel can be estimated. This is related to the high-precision requirement experienced with supergain antenna arrays. The supergain connection is made explicit by showing that the optimum channel capacity for the case of a single transmitting element is achieved by using the supergain weights for the receiving array. To indicate the effect of noisy channel estimation, the loss in receiver antenna gain due to noise in weight estimates is computed with a simple simulation model of scattered propagation for the single transmitting-antenna element case.

In this paper (Part II of two), we continue examining the use of space-time coding techniques to achieve very-high spectral efficiencies in highly scattering environments, using multiple transmit and receive antennas. The goal is to increase as much as possible the number of antenna elements, which is particularly difficult at the remote station, which usually has a more limited space allotted to the antenna array than at the base station. Under the assumption that sky noise was the dominant noise source, Part I addressed the channel-capacity effects of mutual impedance between antenna elements in the remote array, and the correlation between the signal and noise fields received by these elements. In Part II, we consider the same effects under the assumption that amplifier noise is the dominant noise source. The question of how closely the receiving array elements can be spaced depends on how precisely the channel can be estimated. This is related to the high-precision requirement experienced with supergain antenna arrays. The supergain connection is made explicit by showing that the optimum channel capacity for the case of a single transmitting element is achieved by using the supergain weights for the receiving array. To indicate the effect of noisy channel estimation, the loss in receiver antenna gain due to noise in weight estimates is computed with a simple simulation model of scattered propagation for the single-transmitting-antenna element case

In this correspondence, we study some information theoretical characteristics of vector Gaussian interference channels. Resorting to the superposition code technique, a lower bound of the sum capacity for the vector Gaussian interference channel is obtained. Alternatively, orthogonal transmission via frequency division multiplexing is considered and we establish the concavity of sum rate as the bandwidth allocation factor for the vector channel case. Numerical examples indicate that the achievable sum rate via the superposition code compares favorably with orthogonal transmission: the lower bound obtained via the superposition code dominates the best achievable sum rate through orthogonal transmission. This improvement holds for all interference power levels, a sharp contrast to that of the scalar counterpart

We study the throughput limits of a MIMO (multiple-input multiple output) ad hoc network with K simultaneous communicating transceiver pairs. Assume that each transmitter is equipped with t antennas and the receivers with r antennas, we show that in the absence of channel state information (CSI) at the transmitters, the asymptotic network throughput is limited by r nats/s/Hz as K/spl rarr//spl infin/. With CSI corresponding to the desired receiver available at the transmitter, we demonstrate that an asymptotic throughput of t+r+2/spl radic/tr nats/s/Hz can be achieved using a simple beamforming approach. Further, we show that the asymptotically optimal transmission scheme with CSI amounts to a single-user waterfilling for a properly scaled channel.

There is a need to broadcast identical information to multiple users in a network. Examples include sending a beacon signal from an UAV to multiple sensors in a surveillance region and, in the context of ad hoc networks, multicasting. This paper studies the information theoretic aspects of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) beaconing where multiple antenna elements are available at the transmitter. A MAXMIN formulation is proposed to exploit the channel state information assumed to be available at the transmitter. A solution which applies linear programming is presented, along with numerical examples demonstrating the performance gain over the channel blind transmission scheme.

In this paper, we discuss some of the most basic architectural superstructures for wireless links with multiple antennas: M at the transmit site and N at the receive site. Toward leveraging the gains of the last half century of coding theory, we emphasize those structures that can be composed using spatially one dimensional coders and decoders. These structures are investigated primarily under a probability of outage constraint. The random matrix channel is assumed to hold steady for such a large number of M-dimensional vector symbol transmission times, that an infinite time horizon Shannon analysis provides useful insights. The resulting extraordinary capacities are contrasted for architectures that differ in the way that they manage self-interference in the presence of additive receiver noise. A universally optimal architecture with a diagonal space-time layering is treated, as is an architecture with horizontal space-time layering and an architecture with a single outer code. Some capacity asymptotes for large numbers of antennas are also included. Some results for frequency selective channels are presented: It is only necessary to feedback M rates, one per transmit antenna, to attain capacity. Also, capacity of an (M,N) link is, in a certain sense, invariant with respect to signaling format.

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.

There are ever increasing demands for additional capacity in wireless communications to handle voice, data, and wideband Internet applications. These demands are constrained by the bandwidth that was allocated to wireless communications. The spectral efficiencies in present day wireless systems hover around 1 bit/s/Hz. Bell-labs Layered Space-Time (BLAST) is a communication technique for achieving very high spectral efficiencies in highly scattering environments using multiple transmit and receive antennas. A measurement campaign was undertaken to assess the BLAST gains in spectral efficiency in the suburban outdoor environment for stationary subscribers. The measurements employed directive antennas to better control interference from adjacent cells. The measurements were performed over a narrow band at 2.44 GHz with five transmitting and seven receiving antennas, respectively. Extensive calibration methods, assisted by simulations, were developed to assure accurate results for the BLAST capacities of the measured remote subscriber sites. Initial results indicate that BLAST capacities of C/sub B//spl ges/38 bits/s/Hz at 20% of the measured locations and C/sub B//spl ges/24 bits/s/Hz at 50% of these locations are feasible, for reasonable link parameters and negligible interference.

Multielement system capacities are usually thought of as limited only by correlations between elements. It is shown here that degenerate channel phenomena called "keyholes" may arise under realistic assumptions which have zero correlation between the entries of the channel matrix H and yet only a single degree of freedom. Canonical physical examples of keyholes are presented. For outdoor environments, it is shown that roof edge diffraction is perceived as a "keyhole" by a vertical base array that may be avoided by employing instead a horizontal base array.

We present the results of propagation measurements at 2.485 GHz for fixed wireless loops. Path loss measurements were performed and characterized at 43 subscriber locations around a base station antenna located on top of Crawford Hill in Holmdel, NJ. This suburban location is characterized by rolling hills, foliage, and terrain blockages. Temporal and horizontal motion path loss fluctuations were found to be uncorrelated, each characterized by a different Ricean distribution. Lower r.m.s. delay spreads were obtained with directive subscriber antennas than with omni-directional antennas. No substantial gain loss (less than 2 dB) of subscribers' directive antennas was observed. The effects of trees, with foliage, surrounding the base station upon the path loss and the ratio of scattered power to specular power are also examined. The distance exponent of path loss versus distance (about 1.5) was observed to be less than free-space. Diffraction loss from hilltop trees, shadowing the base station, are suspected to be the cause. This loss decreases as the remote moves further away and comes out of the shadow. Scattered power from directions other than line-of-sight was observed to be as high as one half of the specular contribution when tree scattering near the base station was significant.

Recent breakthroughs in the application of information theory have shown great capacity increase by deploying multiple transmitting and multiple receiving antennas as compared to conventional single antenna systems. This work presents an experimental verification of the theoretical capacity prediction and a summary of measurement results for 16 fixed wireless locations in suburban New Jersey.

We investigate the effects of fading correlations in multielement antenna (MEA) communication systems. Pioneering studies showed that if the fades connecting pairs of transmit and receive antenna elements are independently, identically distributed, MEAs offer a large increase in capacity compared to single-antenna systems. An MEA system can be described in terms of spatial eigenmodes, which are single-input single-output subchannels. The channel capacity of an MEA is the sum of capacities of these subchannels. We show that the fading correlation affects the MEA capacity by modifying the distributions of the gains of these subchannels. The fading correlation depends on the physical parameters of MEA and the scatterer characteristics. In this paper, to characterize the fading correlation, we employ an abstract model, which is appropriate for modeling narrow-band Rayleigh fading in fixed wireless systems.

A metropolitan-area radio system that, from a centrally located base station, provides continuously 360 degrees coverage over a large service region is proposed. The base station blankets the service region with a raster of very narrow pencil beams that can be rapidly scanned to any position in synchronism with the switching sequences of a time-division-multiple-access (TDMA) assignment. By deploying multiple scanning spot beams, the allocated spectrum can be reused many times. A centralized network controller, executing an efficient TDMA assignment algorithm, dynamically allocates the resources of a small transceiver pool among the far larger number of beam positions in response to real-time requests for service. By varying the dwell time at each beam position in response to the traffic intensity of the position, highly efficient resource utilization is provided. The high antenna gain of the base station antenna provides adequate arain fade margin to permit operation in the uncongested portion of the ratio spectrum above 20 GHz. The system is particularly well suited to emerging, direct-to-end-user wideband digital service offerings.>