Multiantenna Capacities of Waveguide and Cavity Channels

Abstract

Multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) capacity of waveguide and cavity channels is investigated using the modal expansion technique. Rectangular and circular waveguides and cavities are studied in details. Approximate expressions for the number of modes and for the capacity are given. A MIMO system architecture is suggested for a waveguide channel, which achieves the full capacity by making use of the mode orthogonally (or near orthogonality) using an eigenmode modulator at the Tx end and a spatial correlation receiver at the Rx end. Various practical limitations (e.g., nonideal waveguides and modulators, using discrete sensors instead of continuous, one-dimensional sensors instead of two-dimensional, etc.) and their impact on the capacity are discussed. It is demonstrated that long cavities are equivalent to waveguides in terms of capacity. The concept of spatial capacity is introduced to characterize the limits on the transmission rates that are due to both electromagnetic and information-theoretic considerations, which can be evaluated in a closed form for ideal waveguides and cavities. It follows that the traditional single-mode transmission is optimum in terms of capacity in the small signal-to-noise ratio region only.