Communications Performance Improvements of Mobile Networked MIMO in Army Operational Environments

In recent years the military has been developing mobile Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology. MIMO communications are attractive due to enhanced performance in urban, high multi-path environments which can cause substantial performance degradation in Single Input Single Output (SISO) communications. In this paper, results of a MIMO mobile network of 2 antenna MIMO radio systems employing spatial diversity, with four nodes in a hub-spoke configuration are given. The purpose was to validate MIMO mobile network performance over that of a SISO network. The experiments were conducted in several different environments such as reduced line of sight, heavily obstructive with buildings and dense foliage and high multipath environments and for On-The-Move (OTM) and At-The-Halt (ATH) test scenarios. Tests were conducted in SISO, MIMO and receiver diversity (RXD) modes for comparison and to show backwards compatibility to SISO radios. The paper highlights the advantages of the MIMO mobile network technology, showing improved throughput, reliable communications and coverage extension in mobile and reduced line of sight scenarios. The results consistently showed on average a 10% to 15% throughput improvement in MIMO over SISO given the same transmit power and operating range.