Information-theoretic performance analysis of LMS MIMO communications

Information-theoretic performance analysis of a MIMO communication over Land Mobile Satellite (LMS) channels, under ergodic and non-ergodic regimes, is performed. The capacity-achieving input covariance matrix, and the corresponding ergodic capacity, assuming perfect receive-side information but making different assumptions on the amount of channel knowledge at the transmitter, are derived. We obtain exact results, but for the case when perfect channel knowledge is assumed at both ends of the link, for which we provide an upper bound to the ergodic capacity. In the non-ergodic scenario, we compute the outage capacity in absence of power-control, and discuss the asymptotic Gaussianity of the mutual information, which strongly depends on the overall number of degrees of freedom available on the channel. Design guidelines for multiantenna LMS channels are gained studying the low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) behavior of the capacity, still under the assumption of absence of knowledge of the channel matrix (or its statistics) at the transmitter. The results are illustrated through several examples, aimed at assessing the impact on the performance of the diversity order and/or the Line-of-Sight (LOS) fluctuations.