Measurement-Based Performance Evaluation of MIMO Spatial Multiplexing in a Multipath-Rich Indoor Environment

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) spatial multiplexing that needs to separate and detect transmitted signal streams by using processing at the receiver end can increase the data rates of transmissions on independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) channels. Such channels have been considered to exist in nonline-of-sight (NLOS) environments. However, actual communications may also be conducted in line-of-sight (LOS) environments. While an LOS component can increase the received power level, it may also cause correlated channels that make it difficult to detect the transmitted streams. In this paper, we describe the performance of 4 times 4 MIMO spatial multiplexing based on LOS and NLOS channel measurements in an indoor environment. For eight configurations of uniform linear arrays (four antenna spacings and two array orientations), we evaluated the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the channel capacity and bit error rate performance versus transmit power, and we analyzed them in terms of antenna pattern, fading correlation, CDFs of MIMO channel elements, and CDFs of eigenvalues. Results show that, despite higher fading correlations and non i.i.d. channel characteristics, the performance of MIMO spatial multiplexing in the LOS environment is better than that in the NLOS one. However, the performance in the measured LOS environment largely depends on the MIMO configuration.