The instantaneous performance of a site diversity system is analyzed. This analysis is performed using instantaneous diversity gain (a new parameter for describing diversity performance) and the correlation coefficient. Also, a relationship between the correlation coefficient and instantaneous diversity gain was established. In addition, a review of statistical diversity gain and existing models of statistical diversity gain were also presented. Measured statistical diversity gain data from the VPI&SU site diversity experiment were also presented and compared with instantaneous diversity gain. The relationship between the correlation coefficient and instantaneous diversity gain was used to present a crude model of diversity gain. This model was compared with the model of Hodge. Margin calculations were performed to display the usefulness of instantaneous diversity gain. These were performed using the VPI&SU site diversity experiment data. / Master of Science

Dual polarization allows a communication system to transfer twice as much information as a single polarized communication system, with no increase in the required bandwidth. Site diversity may be used in high frequency satellite communication systems to reduce the effects of attenuation and depolarization due to rain and ice. This thesis examines dual polarized site diversity satellite communication systems to determine how such systems would perform under operating conditions. Three diversity system models, including a new model which incorporates local weather patterns, are discussed and compared. The problem of how to select the best signals from the available diversity replicas is investigated for both PSK and FM modulation schemes. A new technique is proposed for combining the effects of attenuation. and isolation into a single criterion for FM systems. The thesis considers methods for improving dual polarized site diversity system performance. Compensation schemes, coherent signal addition, and optimum site location are investigated. A compensation scheme using pilot tones is proposed. Finally, the performance of operational PSK and FM systems is simulated using data from a VPI & SU satellite beacon experiment. / M.S.

This thesis proposes a method for determining the optimal antenna element radiation characteristics which maximize diversity gain given a specific power angular spectrum of the propagation environment. The method numerically constructs the eigenfunctions of the covariance operator for the scenario subject to constraints on the power radiated by each antenna as well as the level of supergain allowed in the solution. The optimal antenna characteristics are produced in terms of radiating current distributions along with their resulting radiation patterns. The results reveal that the optimal antennas can provide significantly more diversity gain than that provided by a simple practical design. Computational examples illustrate the effectiveness of adding additional elements to the optimal array and the relationship between aperture size or the description of the impinging field and the array performance. A synthesis procedure is proposed which uses genetic algorithm optimization to optimally place a reduced number of dipoles. The results from this procedure demonstrate that using the framework in conjunction with optimization strategies can lead to practical designs which perform well relative to the upper performance bound. Finally a novel array architecture is proposed where subsets of antennas are combined together into super-elements which are then combined in the same manner as the optimal array. The simplifications that result from the genetically optimized small array or the super-element array provide a design options which are feasible in many communication applications.

Στην παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή, με βάση την ηλεκτρομαγνητική θεωρία,παρουσιάζεται μία μεθοδολογία για τη μοντελοποίηση πολύθυρων κεραιών κατά την κατάσταση εκπομπής και λήψης τους, δύο στοχαστικές μεθοδολογίες για την αξιολόγησή τους κατά τη λειτουργία τους σε συστήματα διαφορισμού λήψης και μία στοχαστική μεθοδολογία για την περίπτωση που αυτές λειτουργούν σε συστήματα πολλαπλών εισόδων πολλαπλών εξόδων.Οι πολύθυρες κεραίες μοντελοποιούνται στις καταστάσεις εκπομπής και λήψης τους χρησιμοποιώντας είτε τον πίνακα διανυσμάτων ενεργών μηκών ή τον πίνακα αποτελεσματικών ενεργών μηκών. Ο πρώτος τρόπος είναι προσαρμοσμένος για ανάλυση με Ζ-παραμέτρους ενώ ο δεύτερος για ανάλυση με S-παραμέτρους.Η αξιολόγηση των πολύθυρων κεραιών κατα τη λειτουργία τους σε συστήματα διαφορισμού επιτυγχάνεται είτε με τη μέθοδο του πίνακα συνδιασποράς ή με μία υβριδική στοχαστική-ηλεκτρομαγνητική μεθοδολογία. Η πρώτη μεθοδολογία έχει χρησιμοποιηθεί αρκετά στη διεθνή βιβλιογραφία, ενώ η δεύτερη προτείνεται στην παρούσα διατριβή. Και οι δύο μέθοδοι λαμβάνουν υπόψη τους τόσο τις χαρακτηριστικές ιδιότητες των κεραιών όσο και τις ιδιότητες του περιβάλλοντος διάδοσης.Η αξιολόγηση των πολύθυρων κεραιών κατα τη λειτουργία τους σε συστήματα πολλαπλών εισόδων πολλαπλών εξόδων επιτυγχάνεται χρησιμοποιώντας μία γενική μεθοδολογία που βασίζεται σε βασικές αρχές ηλεκτρομαγνητισμού και κυκλωματικής ανάλυσης. Η συγκεκριμένη μεθοδολογία είναι προσαρμοσμένη για ανάλυση με S- παραμέτρους αλλά μπορεί να επεκταθεί και για ανάλυση με Ζ-παραμέτρους. Παρουσιάζεται, επιπλέον, η εφαρμογή της μεθοδολογίας σε κεραίες οι οποίες έχουν κοινό κέντρο φάσης. / Ιn this thesis a method for modeling multi-port antenna structures at both their transmitting and receiving operational modes and methods for their performance evaluation when operating in diversity and MIMO systems is demonstrated under the perspective of electromagnetics combined with stochastic analysis. The method for modeling multi-port antenna structures at both their transmitting and receiving operational modes is achieved using either the effective length matrix or the realized effective length matrix. The former way is convenient for Z-parameter analysis while the latter for S-parameter analysis. Two stochastic methodologies for the performance evaluation of diversity systems are presented. The first one is based on the covariance matrix of the received signals and has been used by many researchers worldwide. The second one, which has been developed in this thesis, combines electromagnetic modeling of multi-port antennas’ the reception mode with a stochastic model. A stochastic methodology for the performance evaluation of MIMO systems is also presented. The methodology has been developed in this thesis in order to be used for Sparameter analysis. Moreover this methodology is applied to model multiport antenna systems with common phase center.