MULTIPLEXING EFFICIENCY OF MIMO ANTENNA

Abstract

A simple and intuitive metric of multiplexing efficiency is proposed for evaluating the performance of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antennas in the spatial multiplexing mode of operation. Apart from gaining valuable insights into the impact of antenna efficiency, efficiency imbalance, and correlation on multiplexing performance, the metric is particularly useful for antenna engineers whose goal is to achieve the optimum antenna system design. Experimental results involving prototype mobile terminals highlight the effectiveness of our proposal. Multiplexing efficiency is proposed as a simple and intuitive metric for evaluating the effectiveness of MIMO antenna terminals operating in the SM mode. Instead of comparing the ergodic capacity, the metric quantifies the performance in terms of absolute efficiency. This thesis introduces multiplexing efficiency as a power-related metric for the SM mode of operation in MIMO systems and derives its approximate closed-form expression. The unique features of the expression are both its simplicity and the valuable insights it offers with respect to the performance impact of non ideal behaviors of multiple antennas. An example application of the metric is demonstrated for two realistic mobile terminal prototypes.