On MIMO performance enhancement with multi-sector cooperation in a measured urban environment

Capacity improvement of intrasite cooperative MIMO using all three 120 degree-sectors of a base station (BS) site is studied for the first time in a measured urban environment at 2.65GHz. The results show that the mean uplink capacity gain exceeds 40% in as much as 1/4 of the coverage area, relative to the best single-sector link with no cooperation. In addition, a simple simulation model is developed for predicting the capacity gain from intrasite multi-sector cooperation. The model is used to unravel the respective roles of the BS antenna patterns and propagation mechanisms in determining cooperative performance