Open area 2 × 2 MIMO channel model for 2 GHz low‐elevation links with diversity and capacity applications

In civil surveillance applications, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are being increasingly used in floods, fires and law enforcement scenarios. In order to transfer large amounts of information from UAV-mounted cameras, relays, or sensors, large bandwidths are needed in comparison to those required for remotely commanding the UAV. This demands the use of higher frequency bands, in all probability in the vicinity of 2 or 5 GHz. Novel hardware developments need propagation channel models for the ample range of operational scenarios envisaged, including multiple input multiple output (MIMO) deployments. These configurations may enable a more robust transmission by increasing either the carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) statistics or the achievable capacity. In this paper, a 2 × 2 MIMO propagation channel model for an open field environment capable of synthesizing a narrowband time-series at 2 GHz is described. Maximal ratio combining (MRC) diversity and capacity improvements are also evaluated through synthetic series and compared with measurement results. A simple flat, open scenario was evaluated based on which other, more complex environments can be modeled.