The impact of antenna selection and location on the performance of DAS in a multi-storey building

It is well known that providing high data rate wireless mobile services is a major challenge in indoor environments, particularly in multi-storey 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, due to the reuse of the limited available frequency spectrum, co-channel interference can severely degrade system performance. In this paper, the uplink performance of an in-building DAS with frequency reuse is studied, where remote antenna units (RAUs) deployed on each floor throughout the building are connected to a central unit (CU) where received signals are processed. The impact of RAU selection and location strategies on the performance of the interference-limited system is analysed 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. RAU location is shown to be a dominant factor influencing the levels of co-channel interference, and consequently, have a major implications on system performance.