Valid Communications has conducted an extensive evaluation of the performance and suitability of MIMO for professional broadcast, IT, military and security applications under varying operational scenarios. From this study of MIMO, Valid Communications has built a portfolio of MIMO designs and Intellectual Property (IP).

An ad-hoc 2×2 MIMO IP mesh radio solution which is fluid, self-forming, self-healing and provides true networked integration of video, audio and GPS with seamless transfer of digital data. The system is truly mobile and provides genuine non line of sight coverage offering a network with extended range – one which will deliver in environments too tough for other radio solutions to cope with. The robust, self-healing IP mesh architecture makes the product ideal for use in mobile surveillance applications, command and control, or advanced robotics.

A bi-directional 3×5 MIMO RF video link suitable for HDTV and the next generation of high resolution TV – Ultra high definition TV, UHDTV (4k and above). This unique product solution for television outside broadcasts (OB) and electronic news gathering (ENG) offers extensive advantages over products currently available in the marketplace – a dramatic increase in data capacity, integrated return vision and communications and shared spectrum for multiple users.

Valid Communications has designed a 2 way radio video link using MIMO OFDM for implementation in a FPGA. The design is from the ground up for 3X5 MIMO (ie. 3 TX and 5 RX) using spatial multiplexing in the uplink channel from a remote video camera to a base station and a return downlink channel using 1X3 SIMO (1 TX and 3 RX). The up and down links are in the same spectrum and are separated using TDD – time division duplexing.

The modulation of each OFDM link is selectable as either BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM or 64QAM with FEC rates from 1/2 to 5/6. The guard interval is selectable as either ¼ or 1/8. The occupied bandwidth is adjustable for 8, 10, 12, 20 and 25 MHz RF channels.

The design delivers a huge increase in data throughput compared with portable wireless video links available today; over 130 Mbps in the most optimistic case in a 12 MHz channel (260 Mbps in a 25 MHz channel) or 80 Mbps (160 Mbps in a 25 MHz channel) using 16QAM 3/4 rate FEC. This design takes spectral efficiency of portable video links from about 2 bits/sec/Hz today to around 6.7 bits/sec/Hz and as high as 10.8 bits/sec/Hz in the best case. The uplink and downlink are asymmetrical and adjustable, ie capacity is shared between up and down links and can be shared in any ratio. In this case the downlink data rate is 470kbps.

The Valid Communications 2 way design enables real time adaptive modulation in each direction so that the system is always optimised for the best data rate at any distance. Two way adaptive modulation allows for communication system designs with any combination of increased data throughput for a single camera in a channel, or increased distance of operation for a given data rate or even multiple users in the one channel at one time each sharing the spectrum, for example 3 cameras each using 2 bits/sec/Hz in a cell with 1 base station.