The Role of Polarization Diversity for MIMO Systems Under Rayleigh-Fading Environments

Abstract

Polarization diversity techniques have not received as much attention as others due to the significant difference in mean signal level between copolarized and cross-polarized branches when one polarization is transmitted. However, multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems where the multipath fading is only partially correlated could use polarization diversity to provide a high diversity gain. Hence there is a need to fully understand the role of true polarization diversity in such systems. In this letter, progressive (true) polarization diversity performance for 3 times 3 MIMO systems under Rayleigh-fading environments is evaluated through simulations and measurements. True polarization diversity was found to be as significant as spatial diversity at improving diversity gain, and hence MIMO system capacity