Comparative Analysis of Multiple and Single Antenna Applications in Mobile Wireless Communication

The performance of multiple-antenna and single antenna systems as applicable in mobile wireless communication are compared. The method applied involves matrix computation based on the system model. The expressions derived were used to evaluate the system performance with zero-forcing (ZF) equalizer at the receiver. MATLAB Toolbox version 7.0 was used to carry out error performance simulation for the different transmitting and receiving antenna configurations in a Raleigh fading environment. The result showed in terms of BER performance that multiple antenna technique is capable of combating multi-path effects due to the low error rate they exhibited. The diversity modes employed by the multiple antennas were also analysed by comparing their E_b ?/N?_o (Energy per bit to noise power spectral density ratio). Transmit diversity technique with multiple antennas at the base station and a single antenna at the remote end was further shown to be a better candidate for the next generation of wireless communication than the single-input single-output system