An antenna-channel-antenna modeling methodology for estimating MIMO system performance

Link budget analysis of SISO communication systems involves the usual parameters of antenna gains and path loss through the channel. For MIMO systems, however, the traditional metrics (including mean effective gain) are insufficient for predicting link performance. For SISO systems, it is practical to isolate the antennas and channel as separate blocks. For MIMO systems, it is necessary to consider the complete antenna-channel-antenna interface in order to accurately predict link performance. This paper offers a precise formulation of the ant-channel-ant interface and demonstrates its usefulness by simple example.