Typical MIMO propagation channels in urban macrocells at 2 GHz

A directional wideband measurement campaign was performed in urban macrocells at 2 GHz using a channel sounder and a 8-sensor linear antenna array at the base station. Directions of arrival at the Base Station (BS) were estimated by beamforming using the antenna array. Directions of arrival at the Mobile Station (MS) were estimated by beamforming using parts of the measurement route. Global parameters (delay spread, azimuth spread at BS, maximum factor and street canyon factor) were processed from the Azimuth-Delay Power Profiles (ADPP) at BS and MS. In this paper, we compare the statistics of these four parameters with the statistics of those simulated by the 3GPP-SCM system-level model and the statistics of those reported in the literature. We find an acceptable agreement between our measurements and the SCM model except for the delay spread and the street canyon factor. The azimuth spread at BS mean value (9.5°) and delay spread mean value (0.250 μs) are also in accordance with values reported in other references. Azimuth spreads are ranged from 7° to 11°, and delay spreads are ranged from 0.1 μs to 1 μs. From a statistical analysis of global parameters, we show that most of the measured propagation channels can be classified in three main categories: low spatial diversity at MS and BS, high spatial diversity at MS and BS, low spatial diversity at BS and high spatial diversity at MS.