MIMO systems with antenna selection

Multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems are those that have multiple antenna elements at both the transmitter and receiver. They were first investigated by computer simulations in the 1980s. Since that time, interest in MIMO systems has exploded. They are now being used for third-generation cellular systems (W-CDMA) and are discussed for future high-performance modes of the highly successful IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks. MIMO-related topics also occupy a considerable part of today's academic communications research. The multiple antennas in MIMO systems can be exploited in two different ways. One is the creation of a highly effective antenna diversity system; the other is the use of the multiple antennas for the transmission of several parallel data streams to increase the capacity of the system. This article presented an overview of MIMO systems with antenna selection. The transmitter, the receiver, or both use only the signals from a subset of the available antennas. This allows considerable reductions in the hardware expense.