MIMO capacity for realistic wireless communications environments

With the growing interest in implementing wireless communication systems based on MIMO, it is important that the capacity of such a system be evaluated in typical and realistic propagation environments. The paper describes an FDTD simulation procedure for calculating MIMO capacity in some typical propagation environments, including transmission through windows and metal-framed structures, communications through tree canopies, and accounting for the walls of complex structures. Scattering and diffraction effects from metal frames, complex walls, and leaves of trees result in complex field distributions which are expected to cause varying fading characteristics and hence affect the estimation of the MIMO capacity. It is shown that scattering and diffraction effects may increase the MIMO capacity when compared with those cases based on uniform solid walls.