Line-of-Sight 2×nr2 \times n_r MIMO With Random Antenna Orientations

Line-of-sight (LoS) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) gives full spatial-multiplexing gain when the antenna array geometry and orientation are designed based on the interterminal distance. These known design methodologies that hold for antenna arrays with fixed orientation do not provide full MIMO gains for arbitrary array orientations. In this paper, we study LoS MIMO channels with random array orientations when the number of transmit antennas used for signaling is 2. We study the impact of common array geometries on error probability, and identify the code design parameter that describes the high signal-To-noise ratio (SNR) error performance of an arbitrary coding scheme. For planar receive arrays, the error rate is shown to decay only as fast as that of a rank 1 channel, and no better than SNR-3 for a class of coding schemes that includes spatial multiplexing. We then show that for the tetrahedral receive array, which uses the smallest number of antennas among nonplanar arrays, the error rate decays faster than that of rank 1 channels and is exponential in SNR for every coding scheme. Finally, we design a LoS MIMO system that guarantees a good error performance for all transmit/receive array orientations and over a range of interterminal distances

5G Uniform linear arrays with beamforming and spatial multiplexing at 28 GHz, 37 GHz, 64 GHz and 71 GHz for outdoor urban communication: A two-level approach

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) spatial multiplexing and beamforming are regarded as key technology enablers for the fifth-generation (5G) millimeter wave (mmWave) mobile radio services. Spatial multiplexing requires sufficiently separated and incoherent antenna array elements, while in the case of beamforming, the antenna array elements need to be coherent and closely spaced. Extensive 28-, 60-, and 73-GHz ultra-wideband propagation measurements in cities of New York City and Austin have indicated formation of two or more spatial lobes for the angles-of-departure and angles-of-arrival even for line-of-sight (LOS) transmission, which is an advantageous feature of mmWave channels, indicating that the transmitting and receiving array antenna elements can be co-located, thus enabling a single architecture for both spatial multiplexing and beamforming. In this paper, a two-level beamforming architecture for uniform linear arrays is proposed that leverages the formation of these spatial lobes. The antenna array is composed of sub-arrays, and the impact of sub-array spacing on the spectral efficiency is investigated through simulations using a channel simulator named NYUSIM developed based on extensive measured data at mmWave frequencies. Simulation results indicate spectral efficiencies of 18.5–28.1 bits/s/Hz with a sub-array spacing of 16 wavelengths for an outdoor mmWave urban LOS channel. The spectral efficiencies obtained are for single-user (SU) MIMO transmission at the recently allocated 5G carrier frequencies in July 2016. The method and results in this paper are useful for designing antenna array architectures for 5G wireless systems

Design of a Practical and Compact mm-Wave MIMO System with Optimized Capacity and Phased Arrays

In this paper we evaluate the feasibility of short range outdoor mm-wave MIMO links in the 70 GHz portion of the E-band (71–76 GHz). We use phased arrays in order to strongly reduce the impact of the multipath components, thus making the channel mainly line-of-sight (LOS). We design the array using a simple patch as a single element and simulate the performances for a 200 m link and a MIMO system with equal element spacing at the transmitter and the receiver. Each node of the MIMO system consists of a uniform rectangular array (URA) where the single element is a patch antenna, in order to achieve higher gains and narrow beams. Such configuration is much more compact compared to the antennas currently employed for the same bandwidth. We optimize the interelement distances at the transmitter and the receiver and evaluate the capacity achievable with different array sizes. The results show that, for the proposed link budget, capacity up to 29 bit/s/Hz is achievable at a range of 200 m, with practical dimensions. We also show that the beamforming capabilities make the design much more flexible than the single reflector antenna systems. In the last part of the paper, we verify that our antenna can also operate in rainy conditions and longer ranges