Experimental Evaluation of MIMO Channel Capacity for Wireless Communication Channels

This research evaluates the channel capacity (CC) of 5th Generation Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antennas for propagation channels used in wireless communication. In the presence of several frequency sources for the information and communication channels, the effect on the CC of one-port and multi-port antennas is observed using the Path Loss Model (PLM), which is significantly impacted due to the number of antennas used and their characteristics. The CC is also estimated using a different approach, Kronecker's Model (KM). The channel matrix using both models is estimated by maintaining 5 cm and 25 cm spacing between the transmitting and receiving antennas. At 2.4 GHz for a 1-port antenna-based channel, the CC calculated using PLM is 5.5 bps/Hz for both spacing, whereas the CC calculated using KM is 3.65 bps/Hz and 3.12 bps/Hz for 5 cm and 25 cm spacing, respectively. The CC in the PLM is found between 35 to 140 bps/Hz at a frequency of 3.5 GHz, whereas it is reported between 12 to 38 bps/Hz using the KM at the same frequency, irrespective of distances. The maximum CC calculated using PLM is 5 bps/Hz for a 1-port antenna-based channel, 34 bps/Hz for 2-port MIMO antenna-based channels, 80 bps/Hz for 4-port MIMO antenna-based channels, and 157 bps/Hz for 8-port MIMO antenna based channels in the frequency band from 3.45 GHz to 3.7 GHz. Thus, it is experimentally confirmed that the capacity enriched by approximately 4 times on increasing the number of antenna ports from 2 to 8 and operating frequency.