Upper bounds for the capacity for severely fading MIMO channels under a scale mixture assumption

Abstract

A cornerstone in the modeling of wireless communication is MIMO systems, where a complex matrix variate normal assumption is often made for the underlying distribution of the propagation matrix. A popular measure of information, namely capacity, is often investigated for the performance of MIMO designs. This paper derives upper bounds for this measure of information for the case of two transmitting antennae and an arbitrary number of receiving antennae when the propagation matrix is assumed to follow a scale mixture of complex matrix variate normal distribution. Furthermore, noncentrality is assumed to account for LOS scenarios within the MIMO environment. The insight of this paper illustrates the theoretical form of capacity under these key assumptions and paves the way for considerations of alternative distributional choices for the channel propagation matrix in potential cases of severe fading, when the assumption of normality may not be realistic.