Research Article
A Time-Variant MIMO Channel Model Directly Parametrised from Measurements
1 Telecommunications Research Center Vienna (FTW), 1220 Vienna, Austria
2 Smart Antennas Research Group, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
3 Elektrobit Ltd., 90570 Oulu, Finland
4 Institute of Communications and Radio Frequency Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, 1040 Vienna, Austria
EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking 2009, 2009:687238 doi:10.1155/2009/687238
Published: 26 April 2009Abstract
This paper presents the Random-Cluster Model (RCM), a stochastic time-variant, frequency-selective, propagation-based MIMO channel model that is directly parametrised from measurements. Using a fully automated algorithm, multipath clusters are identified from measurement data without user intervention. The cluster parameters are then used to define the propagation environment in the RCM. In this way, the RCM provides a direct link between MIMO channel measurements and MIMO channel modelling. For validation, we take state-of-the-art MIMO measurements, and parametrise the RCM exemplarly. Using three different validation metrics, namely, mutual information, channel diversity, and the novel Environment Characterisation Metric, we find that the RCM is able to reflect the measured environment remarkably well.
