Performance of diversity combining for uniform circular arrays

We present the bit-error-rate (BER) performance for a proposed hybrid antenna system that combines a uniform circular phased array and diversity array using maximal-ratio-combining (MRC) in wireless communications. By phased array and diversity array we mean the circle of radius of the uniform circular array (UCA) is one-half wavelength and greater than half wavelength, respectively. The phased array is used in non-fading wireless channels, while the diversity array is used for wireless channels with multipath fading. The BER performance for the proposed antenna system is evaluated through the use of computer simulation. For channels without fading, the BER performance of the phased array with MRC is evaluated as a function of the number of antenna elements. For the fading channel, the BER performance of the diversity array with MRC is function of the spatial antenna correlation. Comparative results on the BER performance for a uniform linear array (ULA) and UCA are given