On the Mutual Information Distribution of OFDM-Based Spatial Multiplexing: Exact Variance and Outage Approximation

This communication considers the distribution of the mutual information of frequency-selective spatially uncorrelated Rayleigh fading multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) channels. Results are presented for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based spatial multiplexing. New exact closed-form expressions are derived for the variance of the mutual information. In contrast to previous results, our new expressions apply for systems with both arbitrary numbers of antennas and arbitrary-length channels. Simplified expressions are also presented for high and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regimes. The analytical variance results are used to provide accurate analytical approximations for the distribution of the mutual information, and the outage capacity.