CHAPTER FOUR

THE MIMO WIRELESS

CHANNEL
The Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology uses multiple antennas at
both the transmitting and the receiving ends of the communication system [ ]. Fig 4.1
shows the block diagram of a MIMO system. The incoming data signal is processed
placed on N t antennas and transmitted. The transmitted signal passes through the
MIMO wireless channel where it gets corrupted by AWGN and fading effects. The
signal is received by N r receive antennas. The received signal is then processed to
retrieve an estimate of the data. Now the physical phenomenon that affect the signal
in the wireless channel are discussed.

Compression Demodulation
FEC Coding Space time Decoding
Space Time Coding FEC Decoding
Modulation MIMO Channel Decompression

Fig 4.1 MIMO Wireless System

4.1 WIRELESS CHANNEL: PHYSICAL EFFECTS

Several effects occur while a signal travels from transmitter to the receiver of a
MIMO communication system. Noise and Fading are the prominent ones. These are
described below in detail.

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

4.1.1 Noise

Noise is a kind of signal corruption that occurs in all forms of the communication
systems. Noise exists when there are signals present in the system that were not send
by the transmitter. Some common sources of noise are amplifier noise, radiation from
the outer space, interference from other communication systems and thermal noise.
The most commonly used statistical model used for noise is AWGN. The noise is
called additive because it gets added to the signal at the receiver. It is called white
because it is assumed to be existing at same power at all frequencies and it is
Gaussian because it’s amplitude is zero mean Gaussian distributed. The PDF of noise
is given as:

1 −η 2( t)
p (η (t ))= exp ⁡
( )
√2 π σ 2 2σ n2

Where η ( t ) is the noise signal and σ n2 is the noise power.

4.1.2 Multiple Paths: Fading

In wireless telecommunications, multipath is the propagation phenomenon that results

in radio signals reaching the receiving antenna by two or more paths. Causes of
multipath include atmospheric ducting, ionospheric reflection and refraction, and
reflection from water bodies and terrestrial objects such as mountains and buildings
(Fig 4.2). The result of multipath is that multiple copies of the signal arrives at the
receiver. When the multiple paths are combined at the receiver several effects occur.
The first effect is ISI and occurs when the path delays are of the order of a symbol
period. The second effect is fading. Fading occurs when the amplitude of the signal
decreases. Fading can be divided into two types []:

 Large Scale Fading: This type of fading is due to the pathloss as a function of
distance and shadowing by large objects like building and hills.
 Small Scale Fading: This type of fading occurs due to constructive and
destructive interference of multiple signal paths between the transmitter and
the receiver.

Small scale fading is relevant to the design of the communication system and is
considered in the dissertation.

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

The effects of multipath include constructive and destructive interference, and phase
shifting of the signal. This causes Rayleigh fading. The standard statistical model of
this gives a distribution known as the Rayleigh distribution. Rayleigh fading with a
strong line of sight content is said to have a Rician distribution, or to be Rician fading.

Scatterer 1

Scatterer 2

X
Fig 4.2 Representation of Wireless Channel

The fading experienced by a channel can be classified into various categories.

 Slow versus fast fading

The terms slow and fast fading refer to the rate at which the magnitude and
phase change imposed by the channel on the signal changes. The coherence
time is a measure of the minimum time required for the magnitude change of
the channel to become uncorrelated from its previous value. Alternatively, it
may be defined as the maximum time for which the magnitude change of
channel is correlated to its previous value.
 Slow fading arises when the coherence time of the channel is large
relative to the delay constraint of the channel. In this regime, the
amplitude and phase change imposed by the channel can be considered
roughly constant over the period of use. Slow fading can be caused by

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

events such as shadowing, where a large obstruction such as a hill or

large building obscures the main signal path between the transmitter
and the receiver. The amplitude change caused by shadowing is often
modeled using a log-normal distribution with a standard deviation
according to the log-distance path loss model.
 Fast fading occurs when the coherence time of the channel is small
relative to the delay constraint of the channel. In this regime, the
amplitude and phase change imposed by the channel varies
considerably over the period of use.

In a fast-fading channel, the transmitter may take advantage of the variations in the
channel conditions using time diversity to help increase robustness of the
communication to a temporary deep fade. Although a deep fade may temporarily
erase some of the information transmitted, use of an error-correcting code coupled
with successfully transmitted bits during other time instances (interleaving) can allow
for the erased bits to be recovered. In a slow-fading channel, it is not possible to use
time diversity because the transmitter sees only a single realization of the channel
within its delay constraint. A deep fade therefore lasts the entire duration of
transmission and cannot be mitigated using coding.

 Flat versus frequency-selective fading

As the carrier frequency of a signal is varied, the magnitude of the change in

amplitude will vary. The coherence bandwidth measures the separation in frequency
after which two signals will experience uncorrelated fading.

 In flat fading, the coherence bandwidth of the channel is larger than the
bandwidth of the signal. Therefore, all frequency components of the
signal will experience the same magnitude of fading.
 In frequency-selective fading, the coherence bandwidth of the channel
is smaller than the bandwidth of the signal. Different frequency
components of the signal therefore experience decorrelated fading.

Since different frequency components of the signal are affected independently, it is

highly unlikely that all parts of the signal will be simultaneously affected by a deep

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

fade. Certain modulation schemes such as OFDM and CDMA are well-suited to
employing frequency diversity to provide robustness to fading. OFDM divides the
wideband signal into many slowly modulated narrowband subcarriers, each exposed
to flat fading rather than frequency selective fading. This can be combated by means
of error coding, simple equalization or adaptive bit loading. Inter-symbol interference
is avoided by introducing a guard interval between the symbols. CDMA uses the Rake
receiver to deal with each echo separately.

Frequency-selective fading channels are also dispersive, in that the signal energy
associated with each symbol is spread out in time. This causes transmitted symbols
that are adjacent in time to interfere with each other. Equalizers are often deployed in
such channels to compensate for the effects of the intersymbol interference.

Now we discuss the Rayleigh Fading Model which is the model used in the
dissertation for running the simulations.

4.1.3 Rayleigh fading

Rayleigh fading is a statistical model for the effect of a propagation environment on a

radio signal, such as that used by wireless devices.

Rayleigh fading models assume that the magnitude of a signal that has passed through
such a transmission medium (also called a communications channel) will vary
randomly, or fade, according to a Rayleigh distribution — the radial component of the
sum of two uncorrelated Gaussian random variables.

Rayleigh fading is viewed as a reasonable model for tropospheric and ionospheric

signal propagation as well as the effect of heavily built-up urban environments on
radio signals [][]. Rayleigh fading is most applicable when there is no dominant
propagation along a line of sight between the transmitter and receiver.

Rayleigh fading is a reasonable model when there are many objects in the
environment that scatter the radio signal before it arrives at the receiver. The central
limit theorem holds that, if there is sufficiently much scatter, the channel impulse
response will be well-modelled as a Gaussian process irrespective of the distribution
of the individual components. If there is no dominant component to the scatter, then

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

such a process will have zero mean and phase evenly distributed between 0 and 2π
radians. The envelope of the channel response will therefore be Rayleigh distributed.

Calling this random variable R, it will have a probability density function:

2
−r
2π Ω r ≥0
p R ( r )= e ,
Ω

Where Ω=E( R2 )

Often, the gain and phase elements of a channel's distortion are conveniently
represented as a complex number. In this case, Rayleigh fading is exhibited by the
assumption that the real and imaginary parts of the response are modelled by
independent and identically distributed zero-mean Gaussian processes so that the
amplitude of the response is the sum of two such processes.

4.2 MIMO SYSTEM MODEL

A typical outdoor wireless propagation environment is represented in Figure 4.3

where the mobile wireless terminal is communicating with a wireless access point
(base-station). The signal transmitted from the mobile may reach the access point
directly (line-of-sight) or through multiple reflections on local scatterers (buildings,

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

mountains, etc.).

Fig 4.3 Wireless Propogation Environment

As a result, the received signal is affected by multiple random attenuations and
delays. Moreover, the mobility of either the nodes or the scattering environment may
cause these random fluctuations to vary with time. Furthermore, a shared wireless
environment may cause undesirable interference to the transmitted signal. This
combination of factors makes wireless a challenging communication environment.
For a transmitted signal s(t ), the continuous-time received signal y c (t) can be
expressed as

y c (t )=∫ hc ( t ; τ ) s ( t −τ ) dτ + dz

Where h c ( t ; τ ) is the response of the time-varying channel if an impulse is sent at time

t−τ , and z (t) is the additive Gaussian noise. To collect discrete-time sufficient
statistics we need to sample ( ) faster than the Nyquist rate. That is, we sample ( ) at a
rate larger than 2 ¿), where W I is the input bandwidth and W s is the bandwidth of the

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

channel time-variation. Here, we assume that this criterion is met and therefore we
focus on the following discrete-time model:

v
y ( k )= y c ( k T s ) =∑ h ( k ; l ) x ( k−l ) + z ( k)
l=0

Where y ( k ) , x (k ) and z (k ) are the output, input, and noise samples at sampling
instant k , respectively, and h ( k ; l ) represents the sampled time-varying channel
impulse response (CIR) of finite memory v. Any loss in modeling the channel as
having a finite-duration impulse response can be made small by appropriately
selecting v.

Three key characteristics of broadband mobile wireless channels are time-selectivity,

frequency-selectivity, and space-selectivity. Time-selectivity arises from mobility,
frequency selectivity arises from broadband transmission, and space-selectivity arises
from the spatial interference patterns of the radio waves. The corresponding key
parameters in the characterization of mobile broadband wireless channels are
coherence time, coherence bandwidth, and coherence distance. The coherence time is
the time duration over which each CIR tap can be assumed constant. It is
approximately equal to the inverse of the Doppler frequency. The channel is said to be
time-selective if the symbol period is longer than the channel coherence time. The
coherence bandwidth is the frequency duration over which the channel frequency
response can be assumed flat. It is approximately equal to the inverse of the channel
delay spread. The channel is said to be frequency-selective if the symbol period is
smaller than the delay spread of the channel. Likewise, the coherence distance is the
maximum spatial separation over which the channel response can be assumed
constant. This can be related to the behavior of arrival directions of the reflected radio
waves and is characterized by the angular spread of the multiple paths []. The channel
is said to be space-selective between two antennas if their separation is larger than the
coherence distance.

The channel memory causes interference among successive transmitted symbols that
results in significant performance degradation unless corrective measures (known as
equalization) are implemented. Here, we shall use the terms frequency-selective
channel, broadband channel, and intersymbol interference (ISI) channel

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

interchangeably. The introduction of N t transmit and N r receive antennas leads to the

following generalization of the basic channel model:
v
y ( k )=∑ H ( k ; l ) x ( k −l ) + z (k )
l =0

Where N t × N r complex matrix H ( k ; l ) represents the lthtap of the channel matrix

response with x ∈ C N as the input and y ∈C N as the output. The input vector may
t r

have independent entries to achieve high throughput (e.g. through spatial

multiplexing) or correlated entries through coding or filtering to achieve high
reliability (better distance properties, higher diversity, spectral shaping, or desirable
spatial profile). The input is assumed to be zero mean and to satisfy an average power
2
constraint, i.e. E [‖x (k )‖ ]≤ P. The vector z ∈ C N models the effects of noise and
r

interference. It is assumed to be independent of the input and is modeled as a complex

additive circularly symmetric Gaussian vector with z ∼C N (0 , R zz ), i.e. a complex
Gaussian vector with mean 0 and covariance R zz. Finally, we modify the basic
channel model to accommodate a block or frame of N consecutive symbols. Now,
(4.3) can be expressed in matrix notation as follows:

y=Hx+ z

where y, z ∈ C N . N , x ∈ C N .(N + v) , and H ∈C N . N × N (N +v). In each input block, we insert

r t r t

a guard sequence of length equal to the channel memory to eliminate inter-block

interference (IBI). In practice, the most common choices for the guard sequence are
the all-zeros sequence (also known as zero stuffing) and the cyclic prefix (CP). When
the channel is known at the transmitter, it is possible to increase throughput by
optimizing the choice of the guard sequence.

The channel model in ( ) includes several popular special cases. But we are interested
only in the flat-fading channel model which follows by setting v=0 which renders the
channel matrix H a block diagonal matrix.

4.3 MIMO SYSTEM CAPACITY

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

The system capacity is defined as the maximum possible transmission rate such that
the probability of error is arbitrarily small

We assume that the channel knowledge is unavailable at the transmitter and known
only at the receiver. The capacity of MIMO channel is defined as [ ]

C=max I (x ; y )
f (x)

Where f ( x ) is the probability distribution of the vector xand I (x ; y )is the mutual
information between vectors x and y . We note that

I (x ; y )=H ( y )−H ( y ∨x)

where H(y) is the differential entropy of the vector y, while H(y | x) is the conditional
differential entropy of the vector y, given knowledge of the vector s. Since the vectors
x and n are independent, H ¿ From

I (x ; y )=H ( y )−H (n)

If we maximize the mutual information I (x ; y ) reduces to maximizing H ( y ). The

covariance matrix of y, R yy =∈{ y y H }, satisfies

Es
R yy = H Rss H H + N 0 I N
NT R

where R ss =∈{s s H } is the covariance matrix of s. Among all vectors y with a given
covariance matrix R yy , the differential entropy H ( y ) is maximized when y is
ZMCSCG. This implies that s must also be ZMCSCG vector, the distribution of
which is completely characterized by R ss . The differential entropies of the vectors y
and n are given by

H ( y )=log 2 det ⁡((πe R yy )) bps/Hz

H ( n )=log 2 (det ⁡(πe σ 2 I N )) bps/Hz

r

Therefore, I (s ; y) in (2.10) reduces to [4]

Es H
I (s ; y)=log 2 det ⁡( I N + H R ss H )¿ bps/Hz
r
Nt N0

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

and from (2.8), the capacity of the MIMO channel is given by

Es H
C= max log 2 det ⁡(I N + H R ss H ) ¿ ¿ bps/Hz
T r ( Rss )= N t
r
Nt N 0

The capacity C in (2.15) is also called error-free spectral efficiency or data rate per
unit bandwidth that can be sustained reliably over the MIMO link. Thus if our
bandwidth is W Hz, the maximum achievable data rate over this bandwidth using
MIMO techniques is WC bit/s [ ].

4.3.1 Channel Unknown to Transmitter

If the channel is unknown to the transmitter, then the vector s is statistically

independent (i.e R ss =I N ). This implies that the signals are independent and the power
t

is equally divided among the transmit antennas. The capacity in such a case is,

r
Es
C=∑ log 2(1+ λ)
i=1 Nt N0 i

where r is the rank of the channel and λ i(i=1, 2 , .. . , r) are the positive eigenvalues of
H H H . Equation expresses the capacity of the MIMO channel as a sum of the
capacities of r SISO channels, each having a power gain of λ i(i=1, 2 , .. . , r) and

Es
transmit power . This means that the technique of multiple antennas at the
Nt
transmitter and receiver opens up multiple scalar spatial data pipes between the
transmitter and receiver. Furthermore, equal transmit energy is allocated to each
spatial data pipe. This is for the case when the channel is unknown at the transmitter.

4.3.2 Channel Known To Transmitter

It is possible by various means, to learn the channel state information (CSI) at the
transmitter. In such an event the capacity can be increased by resorting to the so-
called ‘‘water filling principle’’ [ ], by assigning various levels of transmitted power
to various transmitting antennas. This power is assigned on the basis that the better
the channel gets, the more power it gets and vice versa. This is an optimal energy
allocation algorithm.

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

Fig 4.4 Schematic of Water Pouring Algorithm

r
E s γi
C=max ∑ log 2(1+ λ)
r
i=1 Nt N0 i
∑ γi
i=1

2
Where γ i=∈ (|x i| ) ,i=(1,2 … ,r ) is the transmit energy in the ith subchannel such that

∑ γi =N T and λ i (i=1 , 2 ,. . . ,r ) are the Eigen values of the matrix H × H H where H H

i=1

is the Hermitian transpose of matrix H.

This algorithm only concentrates on good-quality channels and rejects the bad ones
during each channel realization, it is to be expected that this method yields a capacity
that is equal or better than the situation when the channel is unknown to the
transmitter. Channel capacity for the case when the channel is unknown to the
transmitter and receiver is an area of ongoing research.

4.4 RANDOM CHANNEL: ERGODIC CAPACITY

We have until now discussed MIMO capacity when the channel is a deterministic
channel. We now consider the case when H is chosen randomly according to a
Rayleigh distribution in a quasi-static channel. This is a real-life situation

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

encountered, for example, in wireless LANs with high data rates and low fade rates.
We assume that the receiver has perfect knowledge of the channel and the transmitter
has no knowledge of the channel. Since the channel is random, the information rate
associated with it is also random. The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the
information rate of a flat fading MIMO channel is shown in Figure 4.5 for a 2 ×2
system. The SNR is 10 dB and the channel is unknown to the transmitter.

Fig4.5 CDF of information rate for iid channel matrix with a 2 ×2 system and
SNR=10 dB
The ergodic capacity of aMIMO channel is the ensemble average of the information
rate over the distribution of the elements of the channel matrix H [ ]. It is the capacity
of the channel when every channel matrix H is an independent realization [i.e., it has
no relationship to the previous matrix but is typically representative of it class
(ergodic)]. This implies that it is a result of infinitely long measurements. Since the
process model is ergodic, this implies that the coding is performed over an infinitely
long interval. Hence, it is the Shannon capacity of the channel. Based on ( ) the
ergodic capacity is expressed as

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

r
Es
C=∈
{ (
∑ log 2
i=1
1+ λ
Nt N0 i )}
The expectation operator applies in this case because the channel is random. Since H
is random, the information rate associated with it is also random. The ergodic capacity
is the median of the CDF curve.

Ergodic capacity when the channel is known to the transmitter is based on the water-
filling algorithm and is given from
r
E γ
C=∈ {∑ log2(1+ N sNi
i=1 t 0
λ i) }
Equation ( ) is the ensemble average of the capacity achieved when the water-filling
optimization is performed for each realization of H. The ergodic capacity when the
channel is known to the transmitter is always higher then when it is unknown. This
advantage reduces at high SNRs. This is because at high SNRs ( ) tends to ( ).
Another way of looking at this situation is to appreciate the fact that at high SNRs, all
eigenchannels perform equally well (i.e., there is no difference in quality between
them). Hence, all the channels will perform to their capacities, making both cases
nearly identical.

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 MIMO Wireless Channel

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