Parallel relay‐assisted three‐phase MIMO space division multiple access transmission for multi‐hop throughput improvement

Multi‐hop communications equipped with parallel relay nodes is an emerging network scenario visible in environments with high node density. Conventional interference‐free medium access control (MAC) has little capability in utilizing such parallel relays because it essentially prohibits the existence of co‐channel interference and limits the feasibility of concurrent communications. This paper aims at presenting a cooperative multi‐input multi‐output (MIMO) space division multiple access (SDMA) design that uses each hop's parallel relay nodes to improve multi‐hop throughput performance. Specifically, we use MIMO and SDMA to enable concurrent transmissions (from multiple Tx nodes to single/multiple Rx nodes) and suppress simultaneous links' co‐channel interference. As a joint physical layer (MAC/PHY) solution, our design has multiple MAC modules including load balancing that uniformly splits traffic packets at parallel relay nodes and multi‐hop scheduling taking co‐channel interference into consideration. Meanwhile, our PHY layer modules include distributive channel sounding that exchanges channel information in a decentralized manner and link adaptation module estimating instantaneous link rate per time frame. Simulation results validate that compared with interference‐free MAC or existing Mitigating Interference using Multiple Antennas (MIMA‐MAC), our proposed design can improve end‐to‐end throughput by around 30% to 50%. In addition, we further discuss its application on extended multi‐hop topology. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Phase Estimation Algorithm of Arrival Phase Differences in Space‐Time Coded Communication

One objective in developing the next generation of wireless communication systems is to increase data rates and reliability. A promising way to achieve this is to combine multiple‐input and multiple‐output signal processing with a space‐time coding scheme, which offers higher coding and diversity gains and improves the spectrum efficiency and reliability of a wireless communication system. It is noted, however, that time delay differences and phase differences among different channels increase symbol interference and degrade system performance. In this letter, we investigate phase differences and their effects on multiple‐input and multiple‐output systems, and propose a compensation algorithm for the Rayleigh fading model to minimize their effects.     

Efficient Near‐Optimal Detection with Generalized Sphere Decoder for Blind MU‐MIMO Systems

In this letter, we propose an efficient near‐optimal detection scheme (that makes use of a generalized sphere decoder (GSD)) for blind multi‐user multiple‐input multiple‐output (MU‐MIMO) systems. In practical MU‐MIMO systems, a receiver suffers from interference because the precoding matrix, the result of the precoding technique used, is quantized with limited feedback and is thus imperfect. The proposed scheme can achieve near‐optimal performance with low complexity by using a GSD to detect several additional interference signals. In addition, the proposed scheme is suitable for use in blind systems.     

Unified Optimal Power Allocation Strategy for MIMO Candidates in 3GPP HSDPA

We compare the achievable throughput of time division multiple access (TDMA) multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) schemes illustrated in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) MIMO technical report, versus the sum‐rate capacity of space‐time multiple access (STMA). These schemes have been proposed to improve the 3GPP high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) channel by employing multiple antennas at both the base station and mobile stations. Our comparisons are performed in multi‐user environments and are conducted using TDMA such as Qualcomm's High Data Rate and HSDPA, which is a simpler technique than STMA. Furthermore, we present the unified optimal power allocation strategy for HSDPA MIMO schemes by exploiting the similarity of multiple antenna systems and multi‐user channel problems.     

An Efficient Scheme to Achieve Differential Unitary Space‐Time Modulation on MIMO‐OFDM Systems

Differential unitary space‐time modulation (DUSTM) has emerged as a promising technique to obtain spatial diversity without intractable channel estimation. This paper presents a study of the application of DUSTM on multiple‐input multiple‐output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO‐OFDM) systems with frequency‐selective fading channels. From the view of a correlation analysis between subcarriers of OFDM, we obtain the maximum achievable diversity of DUSTM on MIMO‐OFDM systems. Moreover, an efficient implementation strategy based on subcarrier reconstruction is proposed, which transmits all the signals of one signal matrix in one OFDM transmission and performs differential processing between two adjacent OFDM blocks. The proposed method is capable of obtaining both spatial and multipath diversity while reducing the effect of time variation of channels to a minimum. The performance improvement is confirmed by simulation results.     

Performance analysis of Alamouti scheme with transmit antenna selection in non‐identical Nakagami‐m fading channels

In this paper, error performances of multiple‐input multiple‐output systems that employ Alamouti‐coded transmission with transmit antenna selection are examined for binary phase‐shift keying, binary frequency‐shift keying, M‐ary phase‐shift keying, and M‐ary quadrature amplitude‐modulation signals in independent but non‐identically distributed flat Nakagami‐m fading channels. Exact symbol error rate expressions are derived by using the moment‐generating function‐based analysis method. Upper bound expressions have been obtained in order to examine the asymptotic diversity order of transmit antenna selection/Alamouti scheme. Also, outage probability analysis of investigated systems has been given in order to examine the system capacity. Monte Carlo simulations have validated the analytical symbol error rate performance results. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improved Design Criterion for Space‐Frequency Trellis Codes over MIMO‐OFDM Systems

In this paper, we discuss the design problem and the robustness of space‐frequency trellis codes (SFTCs) for multiple input multiple output, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO‐OFDM) systems. We find that the channel constructed by the consecutive subcarriers of an OFDM block is a correlated fading channel with the regular correlation function of the number and time delay of the multipaths. By introducing the first‐order auto‐regressive model, we decompose the correlated fading channel into two independent components: a slow fading channel and a fast fading channel. Therefore, the design problem of SFTCs is converted into the joint design in both slow fading and fast fading channels. We present an improved design criterion for SFTCs. We also show that the SFTCs designed according to our criterion are robust against the multipath time delays. Simulation results are provided to confirm our theoretic analysis.     

Analysis of minimum transmit sum power and scheduling power gain for multi‐user MIMO‐OFDM networks with rate constraints

Minimum transmit sum power (MTSP) is of high theoretical and practical value in multi‐user rate‐constrained systems; it is, however, quite difficult to be numerically characterized in complex channels for the prohibitively high computational power required. In this paper, we present a computationally efficient method to approximate the MTSP in multi‐user multiple‐input multiple‐output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MU‐MIMO‐OFDM) wireless networks. Specifically, we propose both lower and upper bounds of the MTSP, which are asymptotically accurate in the limit of large K, the number of users. Then, we develop two iterative water‐filling algorithms to numerically solve the proposed bounds. These algorithms are with low complexity, that is, linear in K, and therefore enable the analysis of MTSP in complex channels even if K is large. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the bounds in approximating the MTSP and the high computational efficiency of the proposed iterative water‐filling algorithms. With the proposed bounds, we further numerically study scheduling power gain (SPG), which is defined as MTSP reduction achieved by scheduling resources over multiple channel blocks in time domain. We simulate the SPG in different wireless environments defined in Third Generation Partnership Project spatial channel extended model and find insignificant SPG in some cases, indicating that the benefit from scheduling over multiple channel blocks is limited and simply allocating resources within the present channel is sufficient. Our analysis on the MTSP and SPG provides guidelines on the design of resource schedulers in MU‐MIMO‐OFDM networks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low‐Power Channel‐Adaptive Reconfigurable 4×4 QRM‐MLD MIMO Detector

This paper presents a low‐complexity channel‐adaptive reconfigurable QR‐decomposition and M‐algorithm‐based maximum likelihood detection (QRM‐MLD) multiple‐input and multiple‐output (MIMO) detector. Two novel design approaches for low‐power QRM‐MLD hardware are proposed in this work. First, an approximate survivor metric (ASM) generation technique is presented to achieve considerable computational complexity reduction with minor BER degradation. A reconfigurable QRM‐MLD MIMO detector (where the M‐value represents the number of survival branches in a stage) for dynamically adapting to time‐varying channels is also proposed in this work. The proposed reconfigurable QRM‐MLD MIMO detector is implemented using a Samsung 65 nm CMOS process. The experimental results show that our ASM‐based QRM‐MLD MIMO detector shows a maximum throughput of 288 Mbps with a normalized power efficiency of 10.18 Mbps/mW in the case of MIMO with 64‐QAM. Under time‐varying channel conditions, the proposed reconfigurable MIMO detector also achieves average power savings of up to 35% while maintaining a required BER performance.     

Block‐wise Alamouti schemes for OQAM‐OFDM systems with complex orthogonality

Offset quadrature amplitude modulation‐based orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems cannot be directly combined with the Alamouti code because of the intrinsic imaginary interference. In this paper, we propose a block‐wise space‐frequency block coding (SFBC) scheme and a block‐wise space‐time block coding (STBC) scheme for offset quadrature amplitude modulation‐based OFDM systems, which achieve bit error rate performances that are close to OFDM systems. The proposed schemes satisfy the orthogonality condition of the Alamouti code in the complex field with guard band/intervals. To improve the spectral efficiency of the block‐wise SFBC scheme, we also consider the case without the guard band. It is observed that only the two innermost subcarriers do not satisfy the complex orthogonality condition when the guard band is removed. Then, a simple equalization scheme is proposed to independently equalize the two innermost subcarriers. Simulation results show that the block‐wise SFBC scheme works well under channels with mild‐to‐moderate frequency selectivity, and the block‐wise (STBC ) scheme suffers less than 1 dB loss under severe frequency selective channels at the bit error rate of 10 ^− 3, when only a simple one tap zero‐forcing equalizer is employed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive modulation with constrained variable power for space–time coded MIMO systems

Practically, the maximum transmission power of transmission systems is limited. This power constraint causes the variable power control derived from no maximum power limitation suffering from performance degradation. In this paper, a constrained variable‐power adaptive M‐ary quadrature amplitude modulation scheme for MIMO systems with space–time coding is developed. Convex optimization is used to derive the switching thresholds of the instantaneous signal‐to‐noise ratio for power control (PC) and adaptive modulation under the constraints of maximum power, average power, and target BER. In the derivation of the relation between modulation and power, the exact BER expression of binary phase shift keying modulation and a tight bound for higher order quadrature amplitude modulation are used to make the PC scheme fulfill the target BER even at low signal‐to‐noise ratio where the previous PC schemes fail to meet the target BER. Numerical results show that the derived control scheme under the power constraints can obtain the spectrum efficiency and BER performance close to the previous control scheme without power limitation. Moreover, it can satisfy the requirements of power limitation and target BER and can effectively avoid the excessive power consumption of previous PC scheme in poor channel condition. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Soft‐output MMSE V‐BLAST receiver with MMSE channel estimation under correlated Rician fading MIMO channels

For wireless multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) communications systems, both channel estimation error and spatial channel correlation should be considered when designing an effective signal detection system. In this paper, we propose a new soft‐output MMSE based Vertical Bell Laboratories Layered Space‐Time (V‐BLAST) receiver for spatially‐correlated Rician fading MIMO channels. In this novel receiver, not only the channel estimation errors and channel correlation but also the residual interference cancellation errors are taken into consideration in the computation of the MMSE filter and the log‐likelihood ratio (LLR) of each coded bit. More importantly, our proposed receiver generalizes all existing soft‐output MMSE V‐BLAST receivers, in the sense that, previously proposed soft‐output MMSE V‐BLAST receivers can be derived as the reduced forms of our receiver when the above three considered factors are partially or fully simplified. Simulation results show that the proposed soft‐output MMSE V‐BLAST receiver outperforms the existing receivers with a considerable gain in terms of bit‐error‐rate (BER) performance. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evolution from symbol‐level space–time coded MIMO to chip‐level space–time coded MIMO: a review

Space–time coded multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) technology is an important technique that improves the performance of wireless communication systems significantly without consuming bandwidth resource. This paper first discusses the characteristics and limitations of traditional symbol‐level space–time coding schemes, which work largely on the basis of an assumption that signals are sent to a block‐fading channel. Therefore, the symbol‐level space–time coding schemes rely on symbol‐level signal processing. Taking advantage of orthogonal complementary codes, we propose a novel MIMO scheme, in this paper, based on chip‐level space–time coding that is different from the traditional symbol‐level space–time coding. With the help of space–time–frequency complementary coding and multicarrier modem, the proposed scheme is able to achieve multipath interference‐free and multiuser interference‐free communications with simple a correlator detector. The proposed chip‐level space–time coded MIMO works well even in a fast fading channel in addition to its flexibility to achieve diversity and multiplexing gains simultaneously in varying channel environments. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cooperative power allocation with partial channel information in multi‐cell multi‐user dual‐hop MIMO relay systems

This paper considers cooperative power allocation with the use of partial channel state information (CSI) in a multi‐user dual‐hop relay system with multiple antennas. The end‐to‐end capacity can be improved by dynamically allocating the transmit power of the base station and relay according to co‐channel interference caused by the adjacent relays. The proposed scheme allocates the transmit power in association with the eigenvalues and angle difference between the eigenvectors of transmit correlation matrices of the desired and interference channel. It is shown by means of upper‐bound analysis that the end‐to‐end capacity of the proposed scheme can be maximized in highly correlated channel environments when the principal eigenvectors of transmit correlation matrices of the desired and interference channel are orthogonal to each other. It is also shown that the proposed scheme is robust to the channel estimation error. Finally, the performance of the proposed scheme is verified by the computer simulation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cross‐layer design for MIMO systems over spatially correlated and keyhole Nakagami‐m fading channels

Cross‐layer design is a generic designation for a set of efficient adaptive transmission schemes, across multiple layers of the protocol stack, that are aimed at enhancing the spectral efficiency and increasing the transmission reliability of wireless communication systems. In this paper, one such cross‐layer design scheme that combines physical layer adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) with link layer truncated automatic repeat request (T‐ARQ) is proposed for multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) systems employing orthogonal space‐‐time block coding (OSTBC). The performance of the proposed cross‐layer design is evaluated in terms of achievable average spectral efficiency (ASE), average packet loss rate (PLR) and outage probability, for which analytical expressions are derived, considering transmission over two types of MIMO fading channels, namely, spatially correlated Nakagami‐m fading channels and keyhole Nakagami‐m fading channels. Furthermore, the effects of the maximum number of ARQ retransmissions, numbers of transmit and receive antennas, Nakagami fading parameter and spatial correlation parameters, are studied and discussed based on numerical results and comparisons. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Novel Trellis‐Coded Spatial Modulation over Generalized Rician Fading Channels

In this paper, a novel trellis‐coded spatial modulation (TCSM) design method is presented and analyzed. Inspired by the key idea of trellis‐coded modulation (TCM), the detailed analysis is firstly provided on the unequal error protection performance of spatial modulation constellation. Subsequently, the Ungerboeck set partitioning rule is proposed and applied to develop a general method to design the novel TCSM schemes. Different from the conventional TCSM approaches, the novel one based on the Ungerboeck set partitioning rule has similar properties as the classic TCM, which has simple but effective code design criteria. Moreover, the novel designed schemes are robust and adaptive to the generalized Rician fading channels, which outperform the traditional TCSM ones. For examples, the novel 4‐, 8‐, and 16‐state TCSM schemes are constructed by employing different transmit antennas and different modulation schemes in different channel conditions. Simulation results clearly demonstrate the advantages of the novel TCSM schemes over the conventional ones.     

Optimal Planar Array Architecture for Full‐Dimensional Multi‐user Multiple‐Input Multiple‐Output with Elevation Modeling

Research interest in three‐dimensional multiple‐input multiple‐output (3D‐MIMO) beamforming has rapidly increased on account of its potential to support high data rates through an array of strategies, including sector or user‐specific elevation beamforming and cell‐splitting. To evaluate the full performance benefits of 3D and full‐dimensional (FD) MIMO beamforming, the 3D character of the real MIMO channel must be modeled with consideration of both the azimuth and elevation domain. Most existing works on the 2D spatial channel model (2D‐SCM) assume a wide range for the distribution of elevation angles of departure (eAoDs), which is not practical according to field measurements. In this paper, an optimal FD‐MIMO planar array configuration is presented for different practical channel conditions by restricting the eAoDs to a finite range. Using a dynamic network level simulator that employs a complete 3D SCM, we analyze the relationship between the angular spread and sum throughput. In addition, we present an analysis on the optimal antenna configurations for the channels under consideration.     

On the blind channel identifiability of multiple‐input multiple‐output space–time block code systems using Joint Approximate Diagonalization of Eigenmatrices

Channel identifiability for multiple‐input multiple‐output space–time block code (MIMO‐STBC) systems using Joint Approximate Diagonalization of Eigenmatrices (JADE) is studied in this paper. Compared with the previous blind MIMO‐STBC channel estimation methods in literature, the method proposed in this paper is more suitable for non‐cooperative scenario because it needs less prior information and can be applied to a general class of STBCs. The main contribution of the paper consists in the theoretical proof that, although the sources transmitted by different antennas of MIMO‐STBC systems are not independent, they can be retrieved from the received data by directly using JADE in most cases. The conclusion is also demonstrated by a simulation. This shows that the classical JADE algorithm can be applied to a wider range of situations rather than strictly independent sources. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dual‐polarized MIMO antenna system for WiFi and LTE wireless access point applications

In this paper, a dual‐polarized multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna system suitable for indoor wireless access point is proposed. The presented MIMO antenna system consists of two coplanar‐waveguide‐fed monopole antennas with orthogonally polarized modes. According to the closely spaced structure of the MIMO antenna system, the mutual coupling between the ports is a big challenge. Therefore, a new structure of parasitic element is introduced in order to improve the mutual coupling between the ports. For the purpose of validating the simulated results, the antenna prototype has been fabricated and measured; the comparison of the results shows that there is an acceptable agreement between the measurement and simulation results. The proposed design covers the frequency bands of WiFi (2.4 GHz), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (2.3 and 2.5 GHz), and Long‐Term Evolution (LTE; 1.5 and 2.6 GHz) applications with a reflection coefficient less than −10 dB and a mutual coupling coefficient better than −15 dB. The MIMO antenna system provides an envelope correlation coefficient less than 0.15, polarization diversity gain more than 9.985 dB, and quasi‐omnidirectional pattern within the expected frequency band. In addition, LTE downlink throughput measurements show that the proposed antenna system delivers data rates close to the theoretical maximum for quadrature phase shift keying, 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), and 64‐QAM modulations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Achievable sum‐rate analysis of correlated two‐antenna MIMO uplink channels

This paper analyzes the achievable sum‐rate of correlated two‐antenna multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) uplink channels. Most of previous works have considered the case when a single user has multiple transmit antennas (i.e. multi‐antenna single‐user scenario). This paper considers the case when two‐antenna MIMO uplink channels comprise two users with a single transmit antenna (i.e. single‐antenna two‐user scenario). The analytic and simulation results show that the achievable sum‐rate of correlated single‐antenna two‐user MIMO uplink channels highly depends on the angle difference between the receive correlation coefficients of two users. It is also shown that the achievable sum‐rate of correlated single‐antenna two‐user MIMO uplink channels is larger than that of correlated two‐antenna single‐user MIMO uplink channels and can even be larger than that of independent and identically distributed Rayleigh two‐antenna MIMO uplink channels. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.