Performance evaluation of space diversity in indoor communications using a ray-tracing propagation model

Future wireless personal communications will find important applications in indoor environments; hence, an accurate analysis of the propagation characteristics within buildings and their impact on system design parameters is highly desirable. The performance of space diversity techniques in an indoor environment is investigated. Three linear signal combining techniques are considered: signal selection, maximal ratio combining and equal gain combining. The calculation of received fading envelope in the environment has been performed by using a 3D ray-tracing/UTD technique. The obtained results show the very significant benefits that can be achieved both in terms of diversity gain and diversity advantage, as well as the good agreement with the general achievements of previous experimental works