Intelecommunications, a diversity scheme refers to a method for improving the reliability of a message signal by using two or more communication channels with different characteristics. Diversity is mainly used in radio communication and is a common technique for combatting fading and co-channel interference and avoiding error bursts. It is based on the fact that individual channels experience fades and interference at different, random times, i.e., they are at least partly independent. Multiple versions of the same signal may be transmitted and/or received and combined in the receiver. Alternatively, a redundant forward error correction code may be added and different parts of the message transmitted over different channels. Diversity techniques may exploit the multipath propagation, resulting in a diversity gain, often measured in decibels.
The following classes of diversity schemes can be identified:
An important element in communication systems applying diversity schemes is the "Combiner", which processes the redundantly received signals. Combiner technologies are traditionally classified according to Brennan:[3]
To combine parallel redundant transmitted longer signal sequences, for example network packets, the principle of a Timing Combiner was defined in 2012.[4] Similarly working like a Selection Combiner, the first fully received and valid data packet will be immediately further processed, whereas the later arriving redundant packets will be immediately discarded after reception. With this approach, always the faster of the redundant channels "wins", yielding significant performance improvements especially in wireless applications.[4]
