This paper presents a novel simultaneous decoupling and matching technique for transmitting (Tx) and receiving (Rx) ports in short-range multiple-input multiple-output (SR-MIMO) systems. The principal difference with conventional decoupling and matching network (DMN) approaches is that the proposed technique considers strong mutual coupling between closely-positioned Tx/Rx arrays, and the S-parameter variation due to the presence of each other's array. This technique has two stages; first, 180-degree hybrid couplers are connected to both Tx/Rx ports of a plane-symmetrical MIMO system. This decouples both Tx/Rx ports, and moreover, channels between them are orthogonalized. That is, the MIMO system is transformed into multi orthogonalized single-input single-output (SISO) systems. Second, Tx/Rx ports of each orthogonalized SISO system are simultaneously matched based on conjugate matching theory. Consequently, the transmission power of the short-range MIMO system is maximized. Numerical results show that the proposed technique realizes higher channel capacity than the conventional DMN; indeed it achieves the theoretically possible capacity. In addition to theoretical analyses, we provide an example for microstrip line (MSL) circuit implementation. This MSL model offers good simultaneous decoupling and matching performance yielding channel capacity comparable to that of an ideally-designed circuit model. This validates the implementation feasibility of the proposed technique.

An analog-beamforming-based eigenmode transmission technique is proposed that employs a network of interconnected 180-degree hybrid couplers at both transmitting and receiving sides of a plane-symmetrically configured short-range MIMO system. This technique can orthogonalize MIMO channels regardless of array parameters such as antenna spacing and Tx-Rx distance, provided the MIMO array is symmetric. For verifying the effectiveness of the proposed technique in channel orthogonalization, an experiment is conducted using a 4×4 MIMO array consisting of microstrip antennas and cascade-connected rat-race hybrid couplers. The results indicate a reduction in interference by approximately -28.3dB on average compared to desired signal power, and the ability to realize four-stream parallel MIMO transmission by using only analog passive networks. The proposed technique can achieve channel capacity almost equivalent to that of eigenbeam space division multiplexing with ideal digital beamforming.

A novel analog decoding method using only 90-degree phase shifters is proposed to simplify the decoding method for short-range multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission. In a short-range MIMO transmission, an optimal element spacing that maximizes the channel capacity exists for a given transmit distance between the transmitter and receiver. We focus on the fact that the weight matrix by zero forcing (ZF) at the optimal element spacing can be obtained by using dividers and 90-degree phase shifters because it can be expressed by a unitary matrix. The channel capacity by the proposed method is next derived for the evaluation of the exact limitation of the channel capacity. Moreover, it is shown that an optimal weight when using directional antennas can be expressed by using only dividers, 90-degree phase shifters, and attenuators, regardless of the beam width of the directional antenna. Finally, bit error rate and channel capacity evaluations by both simulation and measurement confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A Simple decoding method for short-range MIMO (SR-MIMO) transmission can reduce the power consumption for MIMO decoding, but the distance between the transceivers requires millimeter-order accuracy in order to satisfy the required transmission quality. In this paper, we propose a phase difference control method between each propagation channel to alleviate the requirements for the transmission distance accuracy. In the proposed method, the phase difference between each propagation channel is controlled by changing the transmission (or received) power ratio of each element of sub-array antennas. In millimeter-wave broadband transmission simulation, we clarified that when sub-array antenna spacing is set to 6.6 mm and element spacing of sub-array antenna is set to 2.48mm, the proposed method can extend the transmission distance range satisfying the required transmission quality, which is that bit error rate (BER) before error correction is less than 10-2 from 9∼29mm to 0∼50mm in QPSK, from 15∼19mm to 0∼30mm in 16QAM, and from only 15mm to 4∼22mm in 64QAM.

Short-range Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (SR-MIMO) transmission is an effective technique for achieving high-speed and short-range wireless communication. With this technique, however, the optimum aperture size of array antennas grows when the transmission distance is increased. Thus, antenna miniaturization is an important issue in SR-MIMO. In this paper, we clarify the effectiveness of using dual-polarized planar antennas as a means of miniaturizing SR-MIMO array antennas by measurements and analysis of MIMO transmission characteristics. We found that even in SR-MIMO transmission, the use of dual-polarized transmission enables higher channel capacity. Dual-polarized antennas can reduce by two thirds the array area that is needed to obtain the same channel capacity. For a transmission distance of two wavelengths, the use of a dual-polarized antenna improved the channel capacity by 26 bit/s/Hz while maintaining the same number of transmitters and receivers and the same antenna aperture size. Moreover, dual-polarized SR-MIMO has a further benefit when zero-forcing (ZF) reception without transmit beamforming is adopted, i.e., it effectively simplifies hardware configuration because it can reduce spatial correlation even in narrow element spacing. In this work, we confirmed that the application of dual-polarization to SR-MIMO is an effective way to both increase channel capacity and enhance transceiver simplification.

A new structure to improve channel capacity of short-range MIMO is proposed. The proposed structure consists of back reflector and side reflector. FDTD simulation demonstrates a role of back reflector and side reflector. The back reflector increases all eigen values. The side reflector equalizes eigen value distribution. Consequently, the proposed structure enhances the channel capacity.