ABSTRACT: While MIMO studies have been with us for quite some time now, practical mass implementation of MIMO is encountering more problems than initially foreseen. In an unusual multidisciplinary approach, signal-processing and RF-antenna engineering techniques are being jointly applied to solve implementation problems. Ergodic capacities initially predicted are disguised by blind-prototypes, and to further complicate the dispute, recently-presented diagonally-correlated MIMO channels have shown higher ergodic capacity than that provided by independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) fading channels. In this presentation the academic rigor of the pure signal-processing approach will be abandoned and challenged by a less-conventional electromagnetic approach. Several well-known and assumed formulas will be put in jeopardy with the aim of identifying lines of collaboration between diverse disciplines. This is the way forward for future MIMO challenges, such as the important handset MIMO already specified for 4G terminals.
SPEAKER: David A. Sánchez-Hernández obtained his Dipl.-Ing. in Telecommunications Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain, in 1992 and his Ph.D from King's College, University of London, in early 1996. From 1992 to 1994 he was employed as a Research Associate for The British Council-CAM at King's College London where he worked on active and dual-band microstrip patch antennas. In 1994 he was appointed EU Research Fellow at King's College London, working on several joint projects at 18, 38 and 60 GHz related to printed and integrated antennas on GaAs, microstrip antenna arrays, sectorization and diversity. In 1997 he returned to Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain, where was co-leader of the Antennas, Microwaves and Radar Research Group and the Microwave Heating Group. In early 1999 he received the Readership from Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, and was appointed ViceDean of the School for Telecommunications Engineering and leader of the Microwave, Radiocommunications and Electromagnetism Engineering Research Group. In late 1999 he was appointed ViceChancellor for Innovation & Technology Transfer at Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena and member of several Foundations and Societies for promotion of R&D in the Autonomous Region of Murcia, in Spain. In May 2001 Dr. Sánchez-Hernández was appointed official advisor in technology transfer and member of The Industrial Advisory Council of the Autonomous Government of the Region of Murcia, in Spain, and in May 2003 he was appointed Head of Department. He is also a Chartered Engineer (CEng), IET Fellow, IEEE Senior Member, Ampere Board member, CENELEC TC106X member, and is the recipient of the R&D J. Langham Thompson Premium, awarded by the Institution of Electrical Engineers (now formerly the Institution of Engineering and Technology), as well as other national and international awards. He owns six patents, has published over 40 scientific papers and over 80 conference contributions, and is a reviewer of several international journals and research programs, including the EU R&D Framework. He has recently been appointed as the Spanish representative at CENELEC TC106X committee and CEO of EMITE Ingenieria SLNE. His current research interests encompass all aspects of the design and application of printed multi-band antennas for mobile communications, electromagnetic dosimetry issues and MIMO techniques for wireless communications.
