Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has recently conducted a technology demonstration of a novel fixed wireless broadband access system in rural Australia. The system is based on multi-user multipleinput multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MU-MIMO-OFDM). It demonstrated an uplink of six simultaneous users with distances ranging from 10 m to 8.5 km from a central tower, achieving 20 bits/s/Hz spectrum efficiency. This paper reports on the analysis of channel capacity and bit error probability simulation based on the measured MU-MIMO-OFDM channels obtained during the demonstration, and their comparison with the results based on channels simulated by a novel geometric optics based channel model suitable for MU-MIMO-OFDM in rural areas. Despite its simplicity, the model was found to predict channel capacity and bit error rate probability accurately for a typical MU-MIMO-OFDM deployment scenario.

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This paper presents a deterministic modelling approach to predict diffraction loss for an innovative Multi-UserSingle-Antenna (MUSA) MIMO technology, proposed for rural Australian environments. In order to calculate diffraction loss, six receivers have been considered around an access point in a selected rural environment. Generated terrain profiles for six receivers are presented in this paper. Simulation results using classical diffraction models and diffraction theory are also presented by accounting the rural Australian terrain data. Results show that in an area of 900 m by 900 m surrounding the receivers, path loss due to diffraction can range between 5 dB and 35 dB. Diffraction loss maps can contribute to determine the optimal location for receivers of MUSA-MIMO systems in rural areas.

Abstract-This paper presents channel measurements and weather data collection experiments conducted in a rural environment for an innovative Multi-User-Single-Antenna (MUSA) MIMO-OFDM technology, proposed for rural areas. MUSA-MIMO-OFDM uplink channels are established by placing six user terminals (UT) around one access point (AP). Generated terrain profiles and relative received power plots are presented based on the experimental data. According to the relative received signal, MUSA-MIMO-OFDM uplink channels experience temporal fading. Moreover, the correlation between the relative received power and weather variables are presented. Results show that all weather variables exhibit a negative average correlation with received power. Wind speed records the highest average negative correlation coefficient of -0.35. Local maxima of negative correlation, ranging from 0.49 to 0.78, between the weather variables and relative received signals were registered between 5-6 a.m. The highest measured correlation (-0.78) of this time of the day was exhibited by wind speed. These results show the extend of time variation effects experienced by MUSA-MIMO-OFDM channels deployed in rural environments.

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