A 3-D wideband MIMO channel model for mobile-to-mobile relay-based communications

This paper proposes a three-dimensional (3-D) three-concentric-cylinders model for multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) mobile-to-mobile (M-to-M) relay fading channels in amplify-and-forward (AF) communication networks. Based on this model, a parametric reference model for wideband MIMO M-to-M relay fading channels in urban macrocells is developed. From the reference model, the space-time-frequency correlation function among the links of the underlying MIMO communication channels is derived, under realistic 3-D non-isotropic scattering conditions. The numerical results depict that the correlation is significantly affected by the multipath elevation angles. These results also demonstrate that the time and frequency dispersion of a wide sense stationary uncorrelated scattering relay-based channel are not statistically independent. The proposed channel model provides an important framework and guidelines for the system design and performance analysis of multi-antenna M-to-M communication systems in relay-based wideband channels with non-line-of-sight double-bounce connections in the transmission links from the source to the destination via the relay.