Switched beam antennas as elements of 2×2 MIMO in indoor environment at 60 GHz

In this paper, we analyze the capacity of a 60 GHz MIMO system in an indoor environment using ray tracing as simulation methodology. Here, the LOS MIMO (line-of-sight MIMO) is proposed to be used because of limited scattering at 60 GHz due to directive antennas. Sometimes, the receiver will not get the LOS component because of possible human movement in the indoor environment. In this situation, the MIMO transmission via reflected paths using switched beam elements is investigated. In another case where switched beam antennas could be useful is when the receiver is moved from the broadside direction of the transmitter. Here the receiver will get the LOS component, but not through the main beam direction of the static unidirectional antennas. It is also a part in this paper to show as to how the switched beam antennas help the receiver to get the beam maximum and boost the capacity. The benefits are graphically shown with the help of computer simulations.