Realistic geometry-based stochastic channel models for advanced wireless MIMO systems

Abstract

The employment of multiple antennas at both the Transmitter (Tx) and Receiver (Rx) enables the so-called Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technologies to greatly improve the link reliability and increase the overall system capacity. MIMO has been recommended to be employed in various advanced wireless communication systems, e.g., the Fourth Generation (4G) wireless systems and beyond. For the successful design, performance test, and simulation of MIMO wireless communication systems, a thorough understanding of the underlying MIMO channels and corresponding models are indispensable. The approach of geometry-based stochastic modelling has widely been used due to its advantages, such as convenience for theoretical analysis and mathematical tractability. In addition, wireless Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications play an important role in mobile relay-based cellular networks, vehicular ad hoc networks, and intelligent transportation systems. In V2V communication systems, both the Tx and Rx are in motion and equipped with low elevation antennas. This is di erent from conventional Fixed-to-Mobile (F2M) cellular systems, where only one terminal moves. This PhD project is therefore devoted to the modelling and simulation of wireless MIMO channels for both V2V and F2M communication systems. In this thesis, we rst propose a novel narrowband Three Dimensional (3D) theoretical Regular-Shape Geometry Based Stochastic Model (RS-GBSM) and the corresponding Sum-of-Sinusoids (SoS) simulation model for non-isotropic MIMO V2V Ricean fading channels. The proposed RS-GBSM has the ability to study the impact of the Vehicular Tra c Density (VTD) on channel statistics and jointly considers the azimuth and elevation angles by using the von Mises-Fisher (VMF) distribution. Moreover, a novel parameter computation method is proposed for jointly calculating the azimuth and elevation angles in the SoS channel simulator. Based on the proposed 3D theoretical RS-GBSM and its SoS simulation model, statistical properties are derived and thoroughly investigated. The impact of the elevation angle in the 3D model on key statistical properties is investigated by comparing with those of the corresponding Two Dimensional (2D) model. It is demonstrated that the 3D model is more practical to characterise real V2V channels, in particular for pico-cell scenarios. Secondly, actual V2V channel measurements have shown that the modelling assumption of Wide Sense Stationary (WSS) is valid only for very short time intervals. This fact inspires the requirement of non-WSS V2V channel models. Therefore, we propose a novel 3D theoretical wideband MIMO non-WSS V2V RS-GBSM and corresponding SoS simulation model. Due to the dynamic movement of both the Tx and Rx, the Angle of Departure (AoD) and Angle of Arrival (AoA) are time-variant, which makes our model non-stationary. The proposed RS-GBSMs are su ciently generic and adaptable to mimic various V2V scenarios. Furthermore, important local channel statistical properties are derived and thoroughly investigated. The impact of non-stationarity on these channel statistical properties is investigated by comparing with those of the corresponding WSS model. The proposed non-WSS RS-GBSMs are validated by measurements in terms of the channel stationary time. Thirdly, realistic MIMO channel models with a proper trade-o between accuracy and complexity are indispensable for the practical application. By comparing the accuracy and complexity of two latest F2M standardised channel models (i.e., LTE-A and IMT-A channel models), we employ some channel statistical properties as the accuracy metrics and the number of Real Operations (ROs) as the complexity metric. It is shown that the LTE-A MIMO channel model is simple but has signi cant aws in terms of the accuracy. The IMT-A channel model is complicated but has better accuracy. Therefore, we focus on investigating various complexity reduction methods to simplify the IMT-A channel model. The results have shown that the proposed methods do not degrade much the accuracy of the IMT-A channel model, whereas they can signi cantly reduce the complexity in terms of the number of ROs and channel coe cients computing time. Finally, to investigate the non-stationarity of the IMT-A MIMO channel model, we further propose a non-WSS channel model with time-varying AoDs and AoAs. The proposed time-varying functions can be applied to various scenarios according to moving features of Moving Clusters (MCs) and a Mobile Station (MS). Moreover, the impacts of time-varying AoDs and AoAs on local statistical properties are investigated thoroughly. Simulation results prove that statistical properties are varied with time due to the non-stationarity of the proposed channel model. In summary, the proposed reference models and channel simulators are useful for the design, testing, and performance evaluation of advanced wireless V2V and F2M MIMO communication systems.