Performance of Multiple Antenna Systems in Different Operational Environments

The performance that can be achieved with multiple antenna systems in different operational environments is studied in this paper. Based on the recommendations made by 3GPP, an appropriate channel model capable of simulating the characteristics of the multiple channels, is first developed. Then, results are produced for the ergodic capacity and probability of beamforming as a function of the SNR, for the different multiple antenna capacity models and typical operational environments (macrocell urban/suburban, microcells). The analysis shows that in the case of the CCI model the search for the solution of the presently unsolved capacity maximization problem when the channel is modelled by a general distribution seems meaningful only for the case of urban micro environment and urban macro environment with high angular spread. Also it is shown that the probability of beamforming for the different environments depends on the correlation between the transmit antenna elements or/and the channel error variance, according to the employed capacity model.