<p>In the latest development in the field of telecommunications it has been observed that a lot is expected from the mobile systems. All kinds of communication standards such as Bluetooth, 3G, W-LAN etc. should be present in the same handset. This requires higher data transmission rates and low bit error probability. One of the major problems in achieving this is fading and multi path environment. The other problem is the growing trend of decreasing size of the electronic devices specially handsets. The handsets are getting smaller and thinner. Due to this the antennas in the device come very close to each other which causes high coupling between the antennas resulting in bad diversity gain. Antenna diversity is considered to be one of easier solution to overcome these problems. This thesis presents an implementation of receiver antenna diversity and suggests different optimised networks between the antenna ports for better diversity gain keeping in view the antenna efficiencies. The thesis involves the following steps: simulating the structures, suggesting different networks between the two antenna ports, optimisation and hardware implementation of the networks and finally measurements in reverberation chamber.</p>

In the latest development in the field of telecommunications it has been observed that a lot is expected from the mobile systems. All kinds of communication standards such as Bluetooth, 3G, W-LAN etc. should be present in the same handset. This requires higher data transmission rates and low bit error probability. One of the major problems in achieving this is fading and multi path environment. The other problem is the growing trend of decreasing size of the electronic devices specially handsets. The handsets are getting smaller and thinner. Due to this the antennas in the device come very close to each other which causes high coupling between the antennas resulting in bad diversity gain. Antenna diversity is considered to be one of easier solution to overcome these problems. This thesis presents an implementation of receiver antenna diversity and suggests different optimised networks between the antenna ports for better diversity gain keeping in view the antenna efficiencies. The thesis involves the following steps: simulating the structures, suggesting different networks between the two antenna ports, optimisation and hardware implementation of the networks and finally measurements in reverberation chamber.

ITC/USA 2011 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Seventh Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 24-27, 2011 / Bally's Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper reports the analysis of L-band channel sounding experiments conducted along the flight line at Cairns Army Airfield, Ft. Rucker, Alabama. Propagation data from multiple antennas on a helicopter to multiple receiving antennas on the ground are used to compute power delay profiles. Analysis of the results reveals delay spreads of the multipath channels between 200 ns and 400 ns, with the longer delay spreads resulting when using a receive antenna with lower gain and higher sidelobe levels. The data also shows that on average, diversity signaling from three aircraft-mounted antennas can lead to gains in signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 13 dB, with the gain dependent on the multipath characteristics observed by the ground antenna.

Multiple-in multiple-out (MIMO) is a wireless communication technique where antenna arrays, at the receiver and transmitter, utilize signal multipath propagation to increase data throughput capacity. The unique benefits MIMO provides have over the last 20 years led to the steady increase in usage in both Wi-Fi and mobile networks. Predicting the performance of an antenna array designed for MIMO is more difficult than predicting the performance of a single antenna. This is due to the increased performance deriving from the processed combination of information from each antenna element. To determine the increased benefits that additional antenna elements can provide to a wireless system, the statistical correlation between the signals received from all antenna element needs to be evaluated. This correlation is expressed with the correlation coefficient $\rho$. The correlation coefficient may be estimated from the far field radiation pattern measured in an anechoic chamber, or measured from the statistically isotropic and homogeneous radiation environment provided by a reverberation chamber. However, Blanch, et al. 2003, proposed a much simpler method to estimate the correlation coefficient using a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) to measure scattering parameters (S-parameters) while assuming perfect antenna efficiency. In 2005 Hallbjörner proposed a modified version of the estimation including the effect of antenna efficiency. This project aimed to measure and compare the results from the two types of chamber tests along with the two S-parameter based approximation methods mentioned. To accomplish this, three different antenna arrays, with four elements each with varying efficiency and mutual coupling, were designed and manufactured. The antenna arrays were then measured in an anechoic chamber, in a reverberation chamber, and had their S-parameters determined with a VNA. From the measurements it was found that the results from both types of chamber tests agree well, indicating that both tests are viable methods of signal correlation estimation. The S-parameter method proposed by Blanch was found to be inaccurate for the antennas tested, likely due to low radiation efficiencies. However, the approximation method proposed by Hallbjörner produced better results, but requires the efficiencies of the antennas which is generally not simple to determine. In conclusion it is found that S-parameter measurements, which are commonly used by the wireless industry, do not provide valid estimates of the MIMO performance of antenna arrays unless they are complemented with measurements of antenna efficiency. / <p></p><p></p><p></p>

<p>Three of the most important factors with regards to wireless multi-hop networks, namely reachability, energy consumption and network stability are considered in our transmitter macrodiversity supported broadcasting routing algorithms. Broadcasting applications are not only used to send routing table, queries, programming logic, any specific request etc. to all the nodes from access point but are also capable of playing a vital role in wireless TV distributions and visual sensor networks. All the algorithms are simulated in the MATLAB environment in which the nodes are random and are battery driven on a multi-hop randomized topology. Four new single frequency network (SFN) based algorithms (SFN-A, SFN-B, SFN-C and SFN-D) are formed in order to work over multi-hopping and where three of the algorithms SFN-A, SFN-B and SFN-D bear more or less the same amount of reachability. These three algorithms are able to reach more than 90% of reachability in only Tx power -8dBm whereas non-SFN requires -4dBm and SFN-C requires -2dBm and, in addition can achieve a maximum of 29 percentage points more reachability than the non-SFN algorithm. However, the best algorithm SFN-D consumes a maximum of 58.76% less energy than the SFN-A and a maximum of 14.28% less energy than the SFN-B. The SFN-D algorithm achieves a maximum 3.43 dB diversity gain together with the maximum 37.33% energy consumption gain in comparison to the non-SFN algorithm.</p>

The need for higher data rates in WLANs boosts drastically because tremendous consumer interest in emerging multimedia applications, such as HDTV, has been increased. Currently, the IEEE 802.11a/b/g WLANs provide a limited data rate for the current user application requirements. In order to overcome substantial limitations of the existing WLANs, the next generation of WLANs, IEEE 802.11n, is in the course of development and expected to support higher throughput, larger coverage area and better QoS. The high performance IEEE 802.11n WLAN can improve data rate significantly by using smart antenna systems in the physical layer to take advantage of multi-path fading of wireless channels. In this thesis, an analytical model is developed to study the MAC performance and the underlying smart antenna technologies used in multi-path fading channels. Multiple antennas employed in the AP arise two popular approaches to provide a significant performance improvement, diversity and multiplexing. Considering the diversity gain of multiple antennas at the AP in which the AP with multiple antennas serves one user at a time, the capacity and throughput can be obtained. In addition, the AP is possible to serve multiple users in the downlink, by exploiting the multiplexing gain of the wireless channel. We investigate the maximum network throughput when the traffic intensity of the AP approaches to one. Unlike most of previous research which focus on either the physical or the MAC layer performance, our analytical model jointly considers the MAC protocol and the smart antenna technology.

The need for higher data rates in WLANs boosts drastically because tremendous consumer interest in emerging multimedia applications, such as HDTV, has been increased. Currently, the IEEE 802.11a/b/g WLANs provide a limited data rate for the current user application requirements. In order to overcome substantial limitations of the existing WLANs, the next generation of WLANs, IEEE 802.11n, is in the course of development and expected to support higher throughput, larger coverage area and better QoS. The high performance IEEE 802.11n WLAN can improve data rate significantly by using smart antenna systems in the physical layer to take advantage of multi-path fading of wireless channels. In this thesis, an analytical model is developed to study the MAC performance and the underlying smart antenna technologies used in multi-path fading channels. Multiple antennas employed in the AP arise two popular approaches to provide a significant performance improvement, diversity and multiplexing. Considering the diversity gain of multiple antennas at the AP in which the AP with multiple antennas serves one user at a time, the capacity and throughput can be obtained. In addition, the AP is possible to serve multiple users in the downlink, by exploiting the multiplexing gain of the wireless channel. We investigate the maximum network throughput when the traffic intensity of the AP approaches to one. Unlike most of previous research which focus on either the physical or the MAC layer performance, our analytical model jointly considers the MAC protocol and the smart antenna technology.

Three of the most important factors with regards to wireless multi-hop networks, namely reachability, energy consumption and network stability are considered in our transmitter macrodiversity supported broadcasting routing algorithms. Broadcasting applications are not only used to send routing table, queries, programming logic, any specific request etc. to all the nodes from access point but are also capable of playing a vital role in wireless TV distributions and visual sensor networks. All the algorithms are simulated in the MATLAB environment in which the nodes are random and are battery driven on a multi-hop randomized topology. Four new single frequency network (SFN) based algorithms (SFN-A, SFN-B, SFN-C and SFN-D) are formed in order to work over multi-hopping and where three of the algorithms SFN-A, SFN-B and SFN-D bear more or less the same amount of reachability. These three algorithms are able to reach more than 90% of reachability in only Tx power -8dBm whereas non-SFN requires -4dBm and SFN-C requires -2dBm and, in addition can achieve a maximum of 29 percentage points more reachability than the non-SFN algorithm. However, the best algorithm SFN-D consumes a maximum of 58.76% less energy than the SFN-A and a maximum of 14.28% less energy than the SFN-B. The SFN-D algorithm achieves a maximum 3.43 dB diversity gain together with the maximum 37.33% energy consumption gain in comparison to the non-SFN algorithm.

Multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems use multiple antenna elements at the transmitter and receiver to offer improved spectral efficiency over traditional single antenna systems. In these systems, properties of the transmit and receive antenna arrays play a key role in determining the overall performance of the system. This thesis derives an upper bound on ergodic (average) channel capacity which formally links good antenna diversity performance with good ergodic capacity. As a result of this derivation, antenna arrays with good ergodic capacity performance are designed in this thesis by designing antenna arrays with near-optimal diversity gain. Several approaches are developed to design antenna array elements which achieve near-optimal diversity. These design methods only require an array geometry and the power azimuth spectrum of the propagation environment. Examples and analysis are included that illustrate advantages and disadvantages of each design technique. Three different array geometries are also investigated. Diversity performance results for each design technique and array geometry, averaged over an ensemble of typical power azimuth spectrums, are presented and compared. This analysis shows that the diversity gain achieved by the best design approach is, on average, less than 1.5 dB below the optimal diversity gain.

This report, presents an analytical framework for analyzing two-branch diversity systems for a Rayleigh fading channel. In many cases the fading received at both branches (i.e. a two-antenna element system) is correlated because of the proximity of the antenna elements to each other. It is also not uncommon for a diversity system to use antennas with different patterns or polarizations, this usually results in differences in average signal-to-noise ratios at both branches depending on which element is better matched to the signal environment. As will be shown, the performance of a diversity system depends greatly on the envelope correlation, average power imbalance and the combining scheme used on both branches. An analytical expression for the probability density function of the signal-to-noise ratio at the output of a two-branch maximal ratio and selection diversity system is developed in this report. The two branches are assumed to be Rayleigh fading, correlated, as well as of unequal signal-to-noise ratios. Measurements were made in Rayleigh fading channels and compared to the analytical results. The analytical cumulative distribution functions (derived using probability distributions) were found to be within 1 dB of the measured results (statistics obtained from time combining) for both maximal ratio and selection diversity attesting to the validity of the analytic results. Also developed in this report are the exact analytical average probabilities of symbol error for coherent BPSK and coherent QPSK before and after maximal ratio combining for this environment. The diversity gain for selection, maximal ratio, and equal gain combining for the 10% probability level is presented as a function of power imbalance and correlation between branches for a two-branch Rayleigh diversity system / Master of Science