A method for characterizing distributed antenna system channels using a single-channel receiver

In recent years, distributed antenna systems have emerged as a promising technique for increasing the capacity of wireless communication systems in indoor and microcell environments. Of particular interest are systems with widely dispersed antennas connected to a central communications unit by fibre optic links. Such systems may be used in several different operating modes ranging from a collection of small cells to a distributed MIMO (D-MIMO) antenna system. Models used to characterize propagation impairments on such links are much more complex than those used to characterize so-called conventional (or co-located or classical) MIMO (C-MIMO) systems because they must also account for path loss and shadow fading. Previous efforts to collect measurement data have been hampered by the need to employ relatively complex and expensive multi-channel receivers that may not always be optimal for the purpose or available to researchers.