Time variation effects of weather conditions in rural MUSA-MIMO-OFDM channels

This paper presents channel measurements and weather data collection experiments conducted in a rural environment for an innovative Multi-User-Single-Antenna (MUSA) MIMO-OFDM technology, proposed for rural areas. MUSA-MIMO-OFDM uplink channels are established by placing six user terminals (UT) around one access point (AP). Generated terrain profiles and relative received power plots are presented based on the experimental data. According to the relative received signal, MUSA-MIMO-OFDM uplink channels experience temporal fading. Moreover, the correlation between the relative received power and weather variables are presented. Results show that all weather variables exhibit a negative average correlation with received power. Wind speed records the highest average negative correlation coefficient of -0.35. Local maxima of negative correlation, ranging from 0.49 to 0.78, between the weather variables and relative received signals were registered between 5-6 a.m. The highest measured correlation (-0.78) of this time of the day was exhibited by wind speed. These results show the extend of time variation effects experienced by MUSA-MIMO-OFDM channels deployed in rural environments.