Diversity–Multiplexing Tradeoff in ISI Channels

The optimal diversity–multiplexing tradeoff curve for the intersymbol interference (ISI) channel is computed and various equalizers are analyzed using this performance metric. Maximum-likelihood signal decoding (MLSD) and decision feedback equalization (DFE) equalizers achieve the optimal tradeoff without coding, but zero forcing (ZF) and minimum mean-square-error (MMSE) equalizers do not. However if each transmission block is ended with a period of silence lasting the coherence time of the channel, both ZF and MMSE equalizers become diversity-multiplexing optimal. This suggests that the bulk of the performance gain obtained by replacing linear decoders with computationally intensive ones such as orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) or Viterbi, can be realized in much simpler fashion—with a small modification to the transmit scheme.