Performance Analysis of 5G Fixed Wireless Access Networks with Antenna Diversity Techniques

An increase in the network interconnection has been observed across the world because of multimedia applications and services transmission over the Internet. Nonetheless, a huge number of homes are still experiencing irregular or no broadband connections. Fixed wireless access (FWA) offers an attractive wireless solution for offering multimedia services to various homes compared with fixed-line broadband solutions. However, matching the performance levels of the fixed-line broadband is comparatively demanding for the current access networks. Compared with the fourth-generation (4G) networks, the fifth-generation (5G) technological implementation in FWA is envisioned to give significant enhancements regarding the system capacity, coverage, and connectivity at low-latency. To fulfill the network requirements, 5G systems are anticipated to exploit higher frequency bands. However, radio propagation conditions at higher frequency bands are relatively demanding, owing to the path-loss (PL). In this paper, we discuss different network requirements of the 5G FWA system. Also, a comprehensive overview of the broadband schemes’ technical challenges is presented and we proffer viable solutions for achieving cost-effective and scalable 5G FWA solutions. Moreover, we exploit diversity scheme and present a closed-form expression for the multiple-input, multiple-output scheme in which the PL and beamforming schemes are considered. The accuracy of the proposed closed-form expression is validated by Monte-Carlo simulation over different antenna configurations and signal-to-noise ratios. Based on the presented models, we evaluate and simulate the PL and average transmission rates for different use cases. Simulation results show significant performance improvement compared with a single-input single-output configuration. Apart from being capable of enhancing system performance, the proposed model can be employed for an arbitrary number of transmit and receive antennas. The model is anticipated to pave the way for more robust performance evaluation of multi-antenna-based 5G use cases.