Impact of RF–Switch Insertion Loss on the Performance of Space Modulation Techniques

Abstract

The RF switch has been highlighted recently as a core component for hardware implementations of the transmitters of space modulation techniques (SMTs). As many other RF components, RF switches have imperfections that can negatively affect the bit error performance of the system. Out of the various imperfections, insertion loss, in particular, is an RF switch property that reflects negatively on the performance of SMTs. Insertion loss in an RF switch causes mismatch between the transmitter and receiver constellation diagrams due to power loss in the transmitted signal. In this letter, the impact of insertion loss is studied analytically and substantiated through Monte Carlo simulation results. It is revealed that insertion loss can significantly impact the system performance if not addressed properly.