Accounting for Antenna and MIMO Channel Effects Using Agilent SystemVue

The Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) technique was introduced to address the growing demand for higher data-rate applications in communication standards like 3G, WLAN, WiMAXTM. In MIMO systems, both the radio channel propagation conditions and antenna characteristics influence the end user’s quality-of-service (QoS). MIMO channel models, with the ability to simulate the multipath fading that incorporates antenna patterns, are therefore important. Agilent SystemVue offers a MIMO Channel Builder that provides just such a capability. This application note discusses two MIMO channel models, namely geometry-based and correlation-based models, which were realized using Agilent’s W1715 MIMO Channel Builder, to show how antenna effects and channel characteristics are coupled in the channel models. It will also present some MIMO Channel Builder applications as a means of describing how to use the models step-by-step and apply them in system simulation and measurements. Introduction