Performance Comparison Between MIMO and SISO based on Indoor Field Measurements

TL;DR

This study compares indoor WLAN performance of 4x4 MIMO versus SISO systems, demonstrating significant throughput improvements and power savings through field measurements and simulations.

Contribution

It provides empirical data quantifying the performance gains of 4x4 MIMO over SISO in indoor WLAN environments based on real measurements and validated simulations.

Findings

Throughput gain of 2.5x-3x with MIMO

Power savings of 5-15 dB in MIMO systems

Validation of measurements with IEEE TGn channel models

Abstract

In this paper, we quantify performance gain achieved if SISO system is replaced with 4x4 MIMO in WLAN setting compatible with IEEE 802.11n standard. We compare throughput and power savings in MIMO by taking field measurements at various indoor locations. Measurements are validated with simulations that include different IEEE TGn channel models. For comparison between MIMO and SISO, we select the Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) which yields the highest throughput subject to QoS constraints (PER <10%). We show that throughput gain of 2.5x-3x and power saving of 5-15 dB are achievable in 4x4 MIMO system.