Multiple-antenna channels from a combined physical and networking perspective

The benefits of multiple-antenna systems in a wireless network are threefold - increased data rate, improved reliability against channel fading, and interference management All these benefits can be realized simultaneously; however, there is a limit. This limit depends on physical parameters, including the size of the wireless device, scattering characteristics of the channel and the operating frequency. In this paper, we propose an indoor channel model that captures this set of physical parameters and the physical distribution of nearby users. Based on this model, we show how the impact of the physical environment can be abstracted in a high level study of the performance tradeoff of multiple-antenna systems in a wireless network.