The effect of path loss variations on the capacity of MIMO systems

Flat fading MIMO channels are often modelled by a transfer matrix with independent but identically distributed (i.i.d.) complex random numbers. Measurements indicate that the assumption of an identical distribution of all matrix entries is not fulfilled, at least for some antenna configurations. We adapt the channel model to include this observation and study the influence on the capacity and performance of MIMO systems. The results are compared with measurements.