Virtual multiple input multiple output in multiple high-altitude platform constellations

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, which makes use of the spatial dimension by utilising multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver, has proved an efficient solution for providing higher data throughput and/or link reliability in wireless systems. In this study, the authors investigate a virtual MIMO (V-MIMO) technique, based on a constellation of multiple high-altitude platforms (HAPs), providing broadband wireless access to high-speed trains under predominantly line-of-sight (LOS) propagation conditions. They analyse the performance of transmit diversity based on space-time block coding (STBC), in particular Alamouti and extended Alamouti schemes, using fixed wide-lobe receive antennas, and compare it to the reference receive diversity scheme based on best HAP selection that requires highly directional and steerable antennas. Simulation results for different diversity schemes are based on the calculation of carrier to interference-plus-noise ratio (CINR) along representative railway lines in a realistic terrain configuration. The CINR levels obtained are mapped onto transmission modes specified by standards developed for two wireless systems operating at distinct frequency bands, the DVB-S2 assumed for operation in mm-wave bands and the IEEE 802.16e (mobile WiMax) for operation at 3.5 GHz. Simulation results show that the use of transmit diversity schemes in a multiple HAP constellation decreases the link outage and also increases the average spectral efficiency, but requires a marked increase in transmit power, especially for the system operating in mm-wave bands.