Measurement-Based Mutual Information Analysis of MIMO Antenna Selection in the 60-GHz Band

The mutual information (MI) of several multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna selection configurations has been studied based on 60-GHz MIMO channel measurement data. Several array shapes with different numbers of available antennas have been considered. The effect of the switching network (either lossless or with realistic losses) as well as the influence of the selection criterion [either maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or optimum capacity criterion (OCC)] has been analyzed. It is found that in the best case (optimum capacity criterion and lossless switching network) antenna selection can increase the MI by up to 127% as compared to traditional MIMO systems. Nevertheless, with more reasonable conditions (maximum SNR criterion, realistic switching network) the MI decreases drastically, with a maximum improvement of only 11% as compared to traditional MIMO systems.