Exploration of MIMO Systems with a Space-Diversity Technique for Combating Signal Fading in Radio Propagation

Abstract

Attenuation, fading, distortion, and interference have been age long problems faced by radio communication engineers. These problems arose due to the imperfect nature of the communication channel. Each attempt to solve the problem creates additional cost, resulting from increased complexity in the design or increased RF power requirement. The diversity technique presented in this article is aimed at solving the problem of signal fading and poor reception of radio signals. The results of the previous studies have presented space diversity as a powerful tool for combating signal fading in a radio broadcast station whose studio and transmitting stations are located in a different geographical location, by connecting multiple antennas at both the transmit and the receive ends. Matlab was used to verify the relationship between antenna heights and coverage distance in line of sight transmission. The results were in total compliance with the attenuation square law which states that signal strength is inversely proportional to distance.

Key Words: Space-Diversity Technique, MIMO, Signal Fading, Antennas, Simulation.