Outdoor MIMO wireless channels: models and performance prediction

We present a new model for multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) outdoor wireless fading channels and their capacity performance. The proposed model is more general and realistic than the usual independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) model, and allows us to investigate the behavior of channel capacity as a function of the scattering radii at transmitter and receiver, distance between the transmit and receive arrays, and antenna beamwidths and spacing. We show how the MIMO capacity is governed by spatial fading correlation and the condition number of the channel matrix through specific sets of propagation parameters. The proposed model explains the existence of "pinhole" channels which exhibit low spatial fading correlation at both ends of the link but still have poor rank properties, and hence, low ergodic capacity. In fact, the model suggests the existence of a more general family of channels spanning continuously from full rank i.i.d. to low-rank pinhole cases. We suggest guidelines for predicting high rank (and hence, high ergodic capacity) in MIMO channels, and show that even at long ranges, high channel rank can easily be sustained under mild scattering conditions. Finally, we validate our results by simulations using ray tracing techniques. Connections with basic antenna theory are made.