Transmit Antenna Selection for UHF MIMO Linking

The use of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configurations in wireless systems is becoming increasingly popular, due to the potential capacity enhancing properties. The use of such configurations, requires deployment of multiple RF chains and results in an increase in cost and complexity. This paper focuses on transmitter design, where cost is often dominated by the need to utilise linearized power amplifiers. Thus, the effect of reducing the number of active transmit antennae through selection can yield a significant cost advantage. Three criteria for transmit antenna selection are evaluated and characterised through the use of real channel data in the UHF band. The criteria are based only on the channel gains and have relatively low complexity; thus are suitable for practical purposes. This study examines the performance of the tested selection algorithms under a variety of operating conditions. The paper also considers the issue of delayed switch time due to reverse-link communication latency