High-performance WLAN architectures using MIMO technology in Line-of-Sight

Abstract

This paper investigates the Packet-Error-Rate (PER) and throughput performance of WLANs in Line-of-Sight (LoS) conditions. A novel antenna array architecture is proposed as a way of overcoming the problem of excessive correlation under these conditions. The performance of systems designed with the proposed method is assessed by means of link-level simulations using channels generated from an appropriate stochastic MIMO channel model. The results are validated using MIMO measurements at 5.2 GHz in an anechoic chamber and in an indoor office environment. Our study shows that a very substantial performance enhancement is possible, compared to conventional MIMO arrays, when the proposed architecture is employed. The difference between the modelled and measured cases was less than 0.5 dB at a PER of 10-2