This work concentrates on the application of diversity techniques and space time block coding for future mobile wireless communications. The initial system analysis employs a space-time coded OFDM transmitter over a multipath Rayleigh channel, and a receiver which uses a selection combining diversity technique. The performance of this combined scenario is characterised in terms of the bit error rate and throughput. A novel four element QOSTBC scheme is introduced, it is created by reforming the detection matrix of the original QOSTBC scheme, for which an orthogonal channel matrix is derived. This results in a computationally less complex linear decoding scheme as compared with the original QOSTBC. Space time coding schemes for three, four and eight transmitters were also derived using a Hadamard matrix. The practical optimization of multi-antenna networks is studied for realistic indoor and mixed propagation scenarios. The starting point is a detailed analysis of the throughput and field strength distributions for a commercial dual band 802.11n MIMO radio operating indoors in a variety of line of sight and non-line of sight scenarios. The physical model of the space is based on architectural schematics, and realistic propagation data for the construction materials. The modelling is then extended and generalized to a multi-storey indoor environment, and a large mixed site for indoor and outdoor channels based on the Bradford University campus. The implications for the physical layer are also explored through the specification of antenna envelope correlation coefficients. Initially this is for an antenna module configuration with two independent antennas in close proximity. An operational method is proposed using the scattering parameters of the system and which incorporates the intrinsic power losses of the radiating elements. The method is extended to estimate the envelope correlation coefficient for any two elements in a general (N,N) MIMO antenna array. Three examples are presented to validate this technique, and very close agreement is shown to exist between this method and the full electromagnetic analysis using the far field antenna radiation patterns.

This work concentrates on the application of diversity techniques and space time block coding for future mobile wireless communications. The initial system analysis employs a space-time coded OFDM transmitter over a multipath Rayleigh channel, and a receiver which uses a selection combining diversity technique. The performance of this combined scenario is characterised in terms of the bit error rate and throughput. A novel four element QOSTBC scheme is introduced, it is created by reforming the detection matrix of the original QOSTBC scheme, for which an orthogonal channel matrix is derived. This results in a computationally less complex linear decoding scheme as compared with the original QOSTBC. Space time coding schemes for three, four and eight transmitters were also derived using a Hadamard matrix. The practical optimization of multi-antenna networks is studied for realistic indoor and mixed propagation scenarios. The starting point is a detailed analysis of the throughput and field strength distributions for a commercial dual band 802.11n MIMO radio operating indoors in a variety of line of sight and non-line of sight scenarios. The physical model of the space is based on architectural schematics, and realistic propagation data for the construction materials. The modelling is then extended and generalized to a multi-storey indoor environment, and a large mixed site for indoor and outdoor channels based on the Bradford University campus. The implications for the physical layer are also explored through the specification of antenna envelope correlation coefficients. Initially this is for an antenna module configuration with two independent antennas in close proximity. An operational method is proposed using the scattering parameters of the system and which incorporates the intrinsic power losses of the radiating elements. The method is extended to estimate the envelope correlation coefficient for any two elements in a general (N,N) MIMO antenna array. Three examples are presented to validate this technique, and very close agreement is shown to exist between this method and the full electromagnetic analysis using the far field antenna radiation patterns.

Yes / A feasibility study of a novel configuration for a super-wide impedance planar antenna is presented based on a 2 × 2 microstrip patch antenna (MPA) using CST Microwave Studio. The antenna comprises a symmetrical arrangement of four-square patches that are interconnected to each other with cross-shaped high impedance microstrip lines. The antenna array is excited through a single feedline connected to one of the patches. The proposed antenna array configuration overcomes the main drawback of conventional MPA with a narrow bandwidth that is typically <5%. The antenna exhibits a super-wide frequency bandwidth from 20 GHz to 120 GHz for S11 < −15 dB, which corresponds to a fractional bandwidth of 142.85%. The antenna’s performance of bandwidth, impedance match, and radiation gain were enhanced by etching slots on the patches. With the inclusion of the slot, the maximum radiation gain and efficiency of the MPA increased to 15.11 dBi and 85.79% at 80 GHz, which showed an improvement of 2.58 dBi and 12.54%, respectively. The dimension of each patch antenna was 4.3 × 5.3 mm2 . The results showed that the proposed MPA is useful for various existing and emerging communication systems such as ultra-wideband (UWB) communications, RFID systems, massive multiple-output multiple-input (MIMO) for 5G, and radar systems. / This work was partially supported by the Innovation Program under grant agreement H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 SECRET-722424 and financial support from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grant EP/E022936/1.