Experimental analysis of multidimensional radio channels

In this thesis new systems for radio channel measurements including space and polarization dimensions are developed for studying the radio propagation in wideband mobile communication systems. Multidimensional channel characterization is required for building channel models for new systems capable of exploiting the spatial nature of the channel. It also gives insight into the dominant propagation mechanisms in complex radio environments, where their prediction is difficult, such as urban and indoor environments. The measurement systems are based on the HUT/IDC wideband radio channel sounder, which was extended to enable real-time multiple output channel measurements at practical mobile speeds at frequencies up to 18 GHz. Two dual-polarized antenna arrays were constructed for 2 GHz, having suitable properties for characterizing the 3-D spatial radio channel at both ends of a mobile communication link. These implementations and their performance analysis are presented. The usefulness of the developed measurement systems is demonstrated by performing channel measurements at 2 GHz and analyzing the experimental data. Spatial channels of both the mobile and base stations are analyzed, as well as the double-directional channel that fully characterizes the propagation between two antennas. It is shown through sample results that spatial domain channel measurements can be used to gain knowledge on the dominant propagation mechanisms or verify the current assumptions. Also new statistical information about scatterer distribution at the mobile station in urban environment is presented based on extensive real-time measurements. The developed techniques and collected experimental data form a good basis for further comparison with existing deterministic propagation models and development of new spatial channel models.reviewe

Methods and criteria for performance analysis of multiantenna systems in mobile communications

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique is one of the most promising solutions for increasing reliability and spectral efficiency of the radio connection in future mobile communication systems. The performance potential of MIMO systems is well established from theoretical point of view. However, much effort is still needed in the experimental verification of those systems using realistic antennas and channels. It is widely accepted that the antenna properties are of significant importance regarding the performance of single-input single-output (SISO) systems. However, the effect of the antennas on MIMO systems has not been thoroughly studied. Due to the complexity of MIMO systems, evaluation of MIMO antennas becomes increasingly cumbersome and time-consuming process in comparison to simpler systems. In the first part of this work an advanced antenna evaluation technique called experimental plane-wave based method (EPWBM) is generalized and validated to cover MIMO systems. This work is the extension of the previous work where the method has been used in the analysis of SISO systems. The EPWBM is based on the measured or simulated complex 3-D radiation patterns of the antennas and measured directional radio channel data. The EPWBM simplifies antenna evaluation process in comparison to traditional means since the same channel library can be utilized in the evaluation of several antenna systems without performing the same measurements for each prototype antennas separately. It is verified that the EPWBM is sufficiently reliable in comparing the performance of prototype antennas. In the second part of the work new quality factors for MIMO system evaluation enclosing traditional systems as special cases have been developed. The MIMO channel correlation matrix is formulated so that it reveals the ability of MIMO antenna systems to transfer signal power from a transmitter to a receiver and to utilize parallel spatial channels. It is also verified that correct normalization of the channel matrices is of significant importance in the MIMO antenna evaluation. This approach gives comprehensive framework for MIMO antenna evaluation, which takes into account both realistic antenna and channel properties. In the last part of the work insight into the performance of different antennas in different signal propagation environments is given. The performance of the antennas depends on the signal-to-noise-ratio and on the outage probability level considered. Although MIMO systems are based on the utilization of parallel spatial channels, the capability of the system to transfer signal power plays a significant role especially with small MIMO systems. In the realistic dynamic channels the capacity variation is larger than in the ideal channels, which are based on the identically and independently distributed (iid) channel assumption. Large performance variations occur in the realistic channels with directive antennas, when antennas are rotated in the usage environment, whereas omnidirectional ones are more robust but are difficult to realize in practice. The largest differences between the antennas are found at the low outage probability levels due to different radiation properties of the antennas. The systems with the cross-polarized antennas have smaller eigenvalue dispersion and are more robust in performance for the variations of the channel than the systems with co-polarized antennas. On the other hand, the co-polarized antennas possess better capability to transfer signal power and are more robust in performance for the antenna array orientation. From practical point of view, the dual-polarized antennas seem to be the most feasible candidates to be used in MIMO antenna systems due to compact structure, and indoor seems to be the most suitable for MIMO applications due to typically scatter-rich channel.Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) tekniika on yksi lupaavimmista ratkaisuista lisätä radioyhteyden luotettavuutta ja spektritehokkuutta tulevaisuuden matkaviestinjärjestelmissä. MIMO järjestelmien suorituskykypotentiaali on teoreettisesti todistettu. Paljon työtä tarvitaan kuitenkin vielä kokeelliseen järjestelmätestaukseen käyttäen realistisia antenneja ja kanavia. On laajasti hyväksyttyä että antennien ominaisuudet ovat merkityksellisiä single-input single-output (SISO) järjestelmien suorituskyvyn kannalta. Antennien vaikutusta MIMO-järjestelmiin ei ole kuitenkaan perusteellisesti tutkittu. MIMO-järjestelmien lisääntyneestä monimutkaisuudesta johtuen, verrattuna yksinkertaisempiin järjestelmiin, MIMO antennien suorituskyvyn arviointi hankaloituu ja vie enemmän aikaa. Työn ensimmäisessä osassa uusi antennien arviointitekniikka nimeltään kokeellinen tasoaaltoihin perustuva menetelmä (EPWBM) on yleistetty käsittämään MIMO järjestelmät ja sen tarkkuus on arvioitu. Tämä työ on laajennus aikaisempaan työhön jossa menetelmää on käytetty SISO-järjestelmien arviointiin. EPWBM perustuu mitattuihin tai simuloituihin antennien kompleksisiin 3-D suuntakuvioihin ja mitattuun suuntatiedon sisältämään kanavadataan. EPWBM yksinkertaistaa antennin suorituskyvyn arviointia perinteisiin menetelmiin verrattuna, koska sama kanavamittausaineisto voidaan hyödyntää usamman antennisysteemin arvioinnissa tekemättä samoja mittauksia jokaiselle antenniprototyypille erikseen. On osoitettu että EPWBM on suhteellisen luotettava prototyyppiantennien suorituskyvyn vertailussa. Työn toisessa osassa on kehitetty uusia hyvyyslukuja MIMO-järjestelmien suorituskyvyn arviointiin sisältäen perinteiset järjestelmät erikoistapauksina. MIMO-kanavamatriisi esitetään siten että se paljastaa MIMO-antennijärjestelmien kyvyn siirtää signaalitehoa lähettimen ja vastaanottimen välillä ja hyödyntää rinnakkaisia kanavia. On myös todistettu että oikeanlainen kanavamatriisien normalisointi on erittäin merkittävää MIMO-antennivertailussa. Tämä lähestymistapa antaa kattavat puitteet MIMO-antennien suorituskyvyn arviointiin ottaen huomioon todelliset antennien ja kanavan ominaisuudet. Työn viimeisessä osassa annetaan käsitys erilaisten antennien suorituskyvystä erilaisissa signaalin etenemisympäristöissä. Antennien suorituskyky riippuu signaalikohinasuhteesta ja tarkasteltavan signaalin luotettavuustasosta. Vaikka MIMO-järjestelmät perustuvat rinnakkaisten kanavien hyödyntämiseen järjestelmän signaalitehon siirto-ominaisuudet ovat merkittäviä erityisesti pienillä MIMO järjestelmillä. Realistisissa dynaamisissa kanavissa kapasiteetinvaihtelu on suurempaa kuin ideaalisissa kanavissa jotka perustuvat oletukseen että signaalit ovat riippumattomasti ja identtisesti jakautuneita (iid). Suurta suorituskykyn vaihtelua esiintyy realistissa kanavissa suuntaavilla antenneilla, kun antenneja pyöritetään käyttöympäristössä, kun taas ympärisäteilevät antennit olisivat jäykempiä suorituskyvyn kannalta mutta käytännössä vaikeampia toteuttaa. Suuremmat erot antennien välillä on löydettävissä matalalta signaalin luotettavuustasolta johtuen antennien erilaisista säteilyominaisuuksista. Kaksipolarisaatioantennijärjestelmillä on pienempi ominaisarvohaje ja niiden suorituskyky on jäykempi kanavan vaihteluille kuin yksipolarisaatioantennijärjestelmä. Toisaalta yksipolarisaatioantenneilla on paremmat signaalitehon siirto-ominaisuudet ja suorituskyky vaihtelee vähemmän antennin katselusuunnan funktiona. Käytännön näkökulmasta katsoen kaksipolarisaatioantennit näyttävät olevan kaikkein toteuttamiskelpoisin vaihtoehto käytettäväksi MIMO-systeemeissä johtuen niiden kompaktista rakenteesta, ja sisätila näyttää olevan sopivin ympäristö MIMO-sovelluksiin johtuen tyypillisesti sirontarikkaasta kanavasta.reviewe

Modeling and characterization of urban radio channels for mobile communications

Results of this thesis contribute in modeling and characterization of radio channels for future mobile communications. The results are presented mainly in three parts: a) modeling of propagation mechanisms, b) methodology of developing a propagation model, c) characterization of urban radio channel. One of the main propagation physical phenomena that have an important role in diverting signals to non line of sight scenarios is the diffraction process. This thesis proposes diffraction coefficients that have better agreement with finite difference time domain solution and rigorous diffraction theory than the coefficient commonly used in propagation predictions for mobile communications. The importance of diffuse scattering has also been investigated and showed that this physical process may have a key role in urban propagation, with a particular impact on the delay spread and angular spread of the signal at the receiver. This thesis proposes wideband propagation models for main and perpendicular streets of urban street grids. The propagation models are ray-based and are given in explicit mathematical expressions. Each ray is characterized in terms of its amplitude, delay, and angle of arrival, angle of departure for vertical and horizontal polarizations. Each of these characteristics is given in a closed mathematical form. Having wideband propagation model in explicit expression makes its implementation easy and computation fast. Secondary source modeling approach for perpendicular streets has also been introduced in this thesis. The last part of the thesis deals with characterization of urban radio channels for extracting parameters that help in successful design of mobile communication systems. Knowledge of channel characteristics enables reaching optimum trade off between system performance and complexity. This thesis analyzes measurement results at 2 GHz to extract channel parameters in terms of Rake finger characteristics in order to get information that helps to optimize Rake receiver design for enhanced-IMT2000 systems. Finger life distance has also been investigated for both micro- and small cell scenarios. This part of the thesis also presents orthogonality factor of radio channel for W-CDMA downlink at different bandwidths. Characterization of dispersion metrics in delay and angular domains for microcellular channels is also presented at different base station antenna heights. A measure of (dis-) similarity between multipath components in terms of separation distance in delay and angular domains is introduced by the concept of distance function, which is a step toward in development of algorithm extraction and analysis multipath clustering. In summary, the significant contributions of the thesis are in three parts. 1) Development of new diffraction coefficients and corrections of limitations of existing one for accurate propagation predictions for mobile communications. 2) Development of wideband propagation models for urban street grid. The novelty of the model is the development in explicit mathematical expressions. The developed models can be used to study propagation problem in microcellular urban street grids. 3) Presenting channel parameters that will help in the design of future mobile communication systems (enhanced-IMT2000), like number of active fingers, finger life distance, and orthogonality factors for different bandwidths. In addition, a technique based on multipath separation distance is proposed as a step toward in development of algorithms for extraction and analysis of multipath clusters.reviewe

Evaluation of performance of mobile terminal antennas

Fast development of new mobile communications equipment results in demand for fast and reliable evaluation methods to estimate the performance of mobile terminals because the performance of antennas located on the terminals varies in different multipath propagation environments. Two methods presented in this thesis provide new possibilities in antenna design because, from now on, the performance of new antennas can be tested already before a prototype antenna is constructed by using existing radio channel libraries and simulated radiation patterns of the antennas. The performance can be estimated by calculating the mean effective gain (MEG) of the antenna using the elevation power distribution or by a plane wave -based method using sets of incident plane waves and the radiation pattern of an antenna. In addition to different propagation environments, the effects of the user on performance can be included in the evaluation. In this thesis, estimating the MEG of different antennas using the elevation power distribution and the power patterns of the antennas is shown to be an accurate and fast method by comparing the results with direct radio channel measurements. The mean difference between the methods is −0.18 dB with standard deviation of 0.19 dB. The usefulness of the evaluation method is demonstrated by evaluating the performance of several antennas located on mobile terminals. The antenna evaluation provided important and unique knowledge of the effect of both the environment and the user on performance. Because in calculating the radiation efficiency of the antenna we assume uniform incident field, the efficiency can result in a performance estimation that does not correspond to real usage situations. Therefore, including the environmental effects in the evaluation procedure is important, although the effect of the antenna is more important than the effect of the environment on MEG. It was noticed with calculated Gaussian-shaped beams that tilting or changing the beamwidth of a mobile terminal antenna has an effect of about 2 dB on MEG in multipath environments. Matching the polarization of the antenna to that of the environment can improve the performance more. A novel incident plane wave -based tool has been developed for evaluating the performance of antenna configurations designed for diversity and Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems. In this thesis, the instantaneous joint contribution of incident field consisting of a number of extracted plane waves and the complex three-dimensional radiation pattern of the antenna is shown to be accurate and extremely fast way to estimate the diversity advantages of different antenna configurations in time-variable radio channels. The difference between the diversity gains achieved by the plane wave -based method and by the direct radio channel measurements is on average less than 0.9 dB. Moreover, the radio channel can be exactly the same for all antenna configurations under test. Furthermore, this thesis includes evaluation of the performance of different MIMO antenna configurations. The studied antenna configurations have been selected from the 16×64 MIMO channel measurement data. A novel way of using one omnidirectional reference antenna in a normalization procedure is shown to be reasonable especially in cases of antenna arrays consisting of directive elements. Three different propagation environments are used as evaluation platforms. The azimuth orientation of mobile terminal antennas may influence the performance of a MIMO antenna configuration significantly. In MIMO configurations compact dual-polarized receiving antennas provide capacity performance almost equal to the arrays employing single polarization.reviewe

Directional propagation channel estimation and analysis in urban environment with panoramic photography

International audienceThis article aims to provide readers with a physical understanding of the propagation channel that is complementary to mathematical channel modeling. It presents an analysis of the directional propagation channel based on radiophotos. Radiophotos are graphical objects where directions of arrival are superimposed on three-dimensional (3D) panoramic photographs.The interaction between electro magnetic waves and the environment is immediately identified with these representations. This paper focuses on the direction of arrival at mobile in an urban macrocell environment. The first radiophoto collection illustrates the major propagation phenomena such as reflection, diffraction, or street canyoning. The second collection illustrates typical propagation channel profiles that are classified according to delay, azimuth, and elevation spread values. The paper also describes an original panorama-based method for estimating noise level in the azimuth–elevation domain