Performance investigation of DS-CDMA detectors employing a dual polarised antenna

The benefits of polarisation diversity as a fade countermeasure within second generation cellular networks are well known. Capacity enhancement by means of joint detection is also a well-regarded technique for interference-limited systems such as TD-CDMA (time division-code division multiple access) within the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) wireless standards. However, relatively little attention has been focussed towards the potential gains of combining these two technologies. This paper considers, by means of a series of wideband dual polar channel measurements from a field trials campaign taken within the lower UMTS band (1910-1915 MHz), the relative merits of this approach when applied to a multistage interference canceller. This paper shows that signal strength improvements of between 2.5 dB and 3.2 dB at the 1% cumulative level were observed by applying dual polarised antennas at the receiver.