Measurement-Based Modeling of Wireless Propagation Channels - MIMO and UWB

Future wireless systems envision higher speeds and more reliable services but at the same time face challenges in terms of bandwidth being a limited resource. Two promising techniques that can provide an increased throughput without requiring additional bandwidth allocation are multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems and ultra-wideband (UWB) systems. However, the performance of such systems is highly dependent on the properties of the wireless propagation channel, and an understanding of the channel is therefore crucial in the design of future wireless systems. Examples of such systems covered by this thesis are wireless personal area networks (papers I and II), vehicle-to-vehicle communications (paper III), board-to-board communications inside computers (paper IV) and sensor networks for industrial applications (paper V). Typically, channel models are used to evaluate the performance of different transmission and reception schemes. Channel modeling is the focus of this thesis, which contains a collection of papers that analyze and model the behavior of MIMO and UWB propagation channels. Paper I investigates the fading characteristics of wireless personal area networks (PANs), networks that typically involve human influence close to the antenna terminals. Based on extensive channel measurements using irregular antenna arrays, typical properties of PAN propagation channels are discussed and a model for the complete fading of a single link is presented. Paper II extends the model from paper I to a complete MIMO channel model. The paper combines the classical LOS model for MIMO with results from paper I by prescribing different fading statistics and mean power at the different antenna elements. The model is verified against measurement data and the paper also provides a parameterization for an example of a PAN scenario. Paper III presents a geometry-based stochastic MIMO model for vehicle-to-vehicle communications. The most important propagation effects are discussed based on the results from extensive channel measurements, and the modeling approach is motivated by the non-stationary behavior of such channels. The model distinguishes between diffuse contributions and those stemming from interaction with significant objects in the propagation channel, and the observed fading characteristics of the latter are stochastically accounted for in the model. Paper IV gives a characterization of UWB propagation channels inside desktop computer chassis. By studying measurement results from two different computers, it is concluded that the propagation channel only shows minor differences for different computers and positions within the chassis. It is also found out that the interference power produced by the computer is limited to certain subbands, suggesting that multiband UWB systems are more suitable for this type of applications. Paper V describes a UWB channel model based on the first UWB measurements in an industrial environment. Analyzing results from two different factory halls, it is concluded that energy arrives at the receiver in clusters, which motivates the use of a classical multi-cluster model to describe the channel impulse response. Parts of the results from this paper were also used as input to the channel model in the IEEE 802.15.4a UWB standardization work. In summary, the work within this thesis leads to an increased understanding of the behavior of wireless propagation channels for MIMO and UWB systems. By providing three detailed simulation models, two for MIMO and one for UWB, it can thus contribute to a more efficient design of the wireless communications systems of tomorrow

Propagation aspects of vehicle-to-vehicle communications - an overview

Vehicle-to-vehicle (VTV) wireless communications have many envisioned applications in traffic safety, congestion avoidance, etc., but the development of suitable communications systems and standards requires accurate models for the VTV propagation channel. This paper provides an overview of existing VTV channel measurement campaigns, describing the most important environments, and the delay spread and Doppler spreads obtained in them. Statistical as well as geometry-based channel models have been developed based on measurements and intuitive insights. A key characteristic of VTV channels is the nonstationarity of their statistics, which has major impact on the system performance. Extensive references are provided

A measurement-based fading model for wireless personal area networks

Personal area networks (PANs) are wireless communications systems with high data rates but small coverage area. PAN propagation channels differ from the well-explored propagation channels of wide-area networks due to several reasons: (i) the distances are typically very small, (ii) the antenna arrangements can be quite different, and (iii) the influence from human presence in the environment is different. The current paper presents results of a channel measurement campaign, where measurements are conducted over distances of 1-10 m using several multi-antenna devices, combined to create different PAN scenarios. For each measured Tx-Rx separation, channel realizations are obtained by small spatial movements of the antenna devices, and by rotating the persons holding the devices. From the results, we draw two main conclusions: (i) The small-scale amplitude statistics, analyzed as the variations over a small sampling area and frequency subchannels, cannot be described in a satisfactory way using only the Rayleigh or Ricean distributions, rather a mixed distribution, the generalized gamma distribution, is more suitable; (ii) it is advantageous to distinguish between two types of large-scale fading: body shadowing (due to the orientation of the person holding the device) and shadowing due to surrounding objects (lateral movement). We also define and parameterize a complete statistical model for all fading

Statistical analysis of the UWB channel in an industrial environment

In this paper, we present a statistical model for the ultra-wideband (UWB) channel in an industrial environment. Based on a set of measurements in a factory hall, we find that the abundance of metallic scatterers causes dense multipath scattering. This can be seen to produce mostly a Rayleigh distributed small-scale fading signal, with only a few paths exhibiting Nakagami distributions. For the power delay profile, we suggest a generalization of the Saleh-Valenzuela model where clusters with different excess delays have different ray power decay constants; the decay constants follow a linear dependence on the delay. This model provides an excellent fit to the measured data. We also note that for non-line-of-sight scenarios at larger distances, several hundred multipath components need to be collected to capture 50% of the available energ

Modeling the ultra-wideband outdoor channel - measurements and parameter extraction method

This paper presents results from one of the few existing outdoor measurement campaigns for UWB. We specifically focus on scenarios applicable for "infostations," where large amounts of data can be downloaded to a user within a limited amount of time. We describe the measurement setup, and present a novel high-resolution algorithm that allows the extraction of the scatterer's positions. Measurement data is extracted using eight meter uniform linear virtual array where incoming front waves are spherical, and thus allowing for high-precision location of the scatterers. Insight is given on how these components can be tracked in the impulse response for a spatially varying terminal. We then cluster the detected components, and investigate how the angular power variations of a given scatterer are correlated with the power variations of the other scatterers belonging to the same cluster. This results in the definition of the clusters' angular radiation pattern. Further sample measurements show how obstacles obstruct the line-of-sight component; a phenomenon that we describe mathematically by "shadowing regions," and compare these measurements with the theoretical results predicted by diffraction theory

Overview of vehicle-to-vehicle radio channel measurements for collision avoidance applications

In this paper we present an overview of a vehicle-to-vehicle radio channel measurement campaign at 5.6GHz. The selected measurement scenarios are based on important safety-related applications. We explain why these scenarios are interesting from the aspect of radio propagation. Further we describe the power-delay profile and the Doppler spectral density of two situations especially suitable for collision avoidance applications: A traffic congestion situation where one car is overtaking another one, and a general line-of-sight obstruction between the transmitter and the receiver car. The evaluations show that in these situations the radio channel is highly influenced by the rich scattering environment. Most important scatterers are traffic signs, trucks, and bridges, whereas other cars do not significantly contribute to the multipath propagation

UWB channel measurements in an industrial environment

In this paper, we present the (to our knowledge) first measurement results for ultra-wideband channels in industrial environments, i.e., a factory hall. The measurements are done with virtual arrays, which allows analysis of the small-scale fading statistics, as well as a directional analysis. We find that there is dense multipath scattering due to the abundance of metallic scatterers in the considered environment. Multiple scatterer clusters can be identified both in the delay and the angular domain. Typical rms delay spreads lie between 30 ns for LOS scenarios and 40 ns for NLOS scenarios. For non-LOS scenarios at large distances, the maximum of the power delay profile is observed some 40 ns after the arrival of the first multipath components. We also draw conclusions about the behavior of typical UWB system designs in the measured channel

Outdoor-to-indoor office MIMO measurements and analysis at 5.2 GHz

The outdoor-to-indoor wireless propagation channel is of interest for cellular and wireless local area network applications. This paper presents the measurement results and analysis based on our multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) measurement campaign, which is one of the first to characterize the outdoor-to-indoor channel. The measurements were performed at 5.2 GHz; the receiver was placed indoors at 53 different locations in an office building, and the transmitter was placed at three ”base stations ” positions on a nearby rooftop. We report on the root-mean-square (RMS) angular spread, building penetration, and other statistical parameters that characterize the channel. Our analysis is focused on three MIMO channel assumptions often used in stochastic models. 1) It is commonly assumed that the channel matrix can be represented as a sum of a line-of-sight (LOS) contribution and a zero-mean complex Gaussian distribution. Our investigation shows that this model does not adequately represent our measurement data. 2) It is often assumed that the Rician K-factor is equal to the power ratio of the LOS component and the other multipath components (MPCs). We show that this is not the case, and we highlight the difference between the Rician K-factor often associated with LOS channels and a similar power ratio for th