MIMO Channel Modelling and Performance Evaluations

The demand on wireless networks with high throughput has grown heavily because of the increasing usage of data services. One of the key technologies to meet this requirement is the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system, which improves the spectrum efficiency without too much investment on the infrastructure and new frequency spectrum. In this theis, a new MIMO channel model is developed that is specific to real scenarios. This kind of channel models is more suitable for network planning tools because it takes the environment details into account. The first step of this work is a review on the state-of-the-art MIMO channel modelling and radio propagation modelling studies. It is then followed by a comparison of two propagation models that use different algorithms, i.e. ray optical and partial flow. The comparison leads to a decision that ray optical method is used for MIMO channel modelling in this thesis. After that, a spatial channel model based on a deterministic ray optical propagation model is proposed. The final MIMO channel model takes the polarisation and the Doppler effect in to account so that it can be used for MIMO systems with polarised antennas and moving objects as well. The model is used in a system level simulator and then validated in an indoor office building using measurement data. It is concluded from this thesis that the chosen propagation model can be used for MIMO channel modelling, and the proposed MIMO channel model based on it is accurate and can be used for MIMO system design.