Overcoming the influence of people shadowing and enhancing MIMO capacity systems via modified environments

In a realistic environment it is not possible to neglect the significant impact of human body shadowing on the indoor wireless propagation channel. The received power of the obstructed (OBS) path can be attenuated significantly as compared with that of the line of sight (LOS) path, thereby requiring an additional link budget margin as well as battery power. The use of an innovative wall treatment is suggested under OBS conditions in order to avoid significant propagation loss. The potential benefit in terms of MIMO capacity gain after deploying this process in indoor environments where MIMO systems are installed and operated is presented. The idea is that the presence of strong multipath components at every receiving element in an indoor environment would make the channel more Rayleigh like, which can lead to lower correlation and hence higher capacity.