An overview of multi-antenna technologies for space-ground integrated networks

Multi-antenna technologies have already achieved a series of great successes in the development of information networks. For future space-ground integrated networks (SGINs), the traditional various kinds of separated information networks will converge to a whole fully connected information network to provide more flexible and reliable services on a world scale. Regarding their great successes in existing systems, multiantenna technologies will be of critical importance for the realization of SGINs and multi-antenna technologies are definitely one of the most important enabling technologies for future converged SGINs. In this article, a comprehensive overview on multi-antenna technologies is given. We first investigate multi-antenna technologies from a theoretical viewpoint. It is shown that we can understand multi-antenna technologies in a general and unified point of view. This fact has two-fold meanings. First, the research on multi-antennas can help us understand the relationships between different technologies e.g., OFDMA, CDMA, etc. On the other hand, multi-antenna technologies are easy to integrate into various information systems. Following that, we discuss in depth the potentials and challenges of the multi-antenna technologies on different platforms and in different applications case by case. More specifically, we investigate spaceborne multi-antenna technologies, airborne multi-antenna technologies, shipborne multi-antenna technologies, etc. Moreover, the combinations of multiantenna technologies with other advanced wireless technologies e.g., physical layer network coding, cooperative communication, etc., are also elaborated.