In-Building DAS for High Data Rate Indoor Mobile Communication

As well known, providing high data rate wireless mobile services is difficult in indoor environments, particularly in multi-floor buildings. One way to achieve high data rate wireless transmissions is to reduce the radio transmission distance between the transmitter and the receiver by using distributed antenna systems (DASs) employing frequency reuse. However, frequency reuse causes co-channel interference, which is detrimental to system performance. In this paper, the impact of cochannel interference on the achievable uplink spectral efficiency of an in-building wireless communication system employing DAS is examined. In the system, remote antenna units (RAUs) are deployed on each floor throughout the building and connected to a central unit (CU) where received signals are processed. System performance is investigated by using a propagation channel model derived from multi-floor, in-building measurement results. The proposed scheme exploits the penetration loss of the signal through the floors, resulting in frequency reuse in spatially separated floors, which increases system spectral efficiency and also reduces co-channel interference. Location based RAU selection and deployment options are investigated. System performance is evaluated in terms of location-specific spectral efficiency for a range of potential mobile terminal (MT) locations and various in-building propagation characteristics.