Simultaneous wide-band four-antenna wireless channel-sounding measurements at 1920 MHz in a suburban environment

Simultaneous four-antenna wide-band mobile channel-sounding measurements were made in two areas at 1920 MHz. The received signal strength and transmission loss were examined. Path-loss exponents for the two sectors were found to be 4.9 and 4.1. Root mean square delay spreads for the two sectors were found to be less than 1.38 and 0.65 /spl mu/s for 90% of the data and less than 3.14 and 1.35 /spl mu/s for 99% of the data. Fast fading reduction using antenna diversity and increased channel bandwidth (19.6 kHz, 1.25 MHz, 5.0 MHz, and 10.0 MHz) were examined. Three signal combining methods were considered: selection diversity, equal gain combining, and maximal ratio combining. The measured results show that increasing the number of diversity antennas or the channel bandwidth significantly reduces fading. Maximal ratio combining yields the largest diversity gain, exceeding 11.0 and 17.0 dB at the 90% and 99% fast fade depth probability levels, respectively, for the 19.6-kHz narrow-band signal and 6.7 and 6.9 dB for the 10.0-MHz broad-band signal when all four channels are used.