Performance of Cross-layer Design with Multiple Outdated Estimates in Multiuser MIMO System

By combining adaptive modulation (AM) and automatic repeat request (ARQ) protocol as well as user scheduling, the cross-layer design scheme of multiuser MIMO system with imperfect feedback is presented, and multiple outdated estimates method is proposed to improve the system performance. Based on this method and imperfect feedback information, the closed-form expressions of spectral efficiency (SE) and packet error rate (PER) of the system subject to the target PER constraint are respectively derived. With these expressions, the system performance can be effectively evaluated. To mitigate the effect of delayed feedback, the variable thresholds (VTs) are also derived by means of the maximum a posteriori method, and these VTs include the conventional fixed thresholds (FTs) as special cases. Simulation results show that the theoretical SE and PER are in good agreement with the corresponding simulation. The proposed CLD scheme with multiple estimates can obtain higher SE than the existing CLD scheme with single estimate, especially for large delay. Moreover, the CLD scheme with VTs outperforms that with conventional FTs

AirSync: Enabling Distributed Multiuser MIMO with Full Spatial Multiplexing

The enormous success of advanced wireless devices is pushing the demand for higher wireless data rates. Denser spectrum reuse through the deployment of more access points per square mile has the potential to successfully meet the increasing demand for more bandwidth. In theory, the best approach to density increase is via distributed multiuser MIMO, where several access points are connected to a central server and operate as a large distributed multi-antenna access point, ensuring that all transmitted signal power serves the purpose of data transmission, rather than creating "interference." In practice, while enterprise networks offer a natural setup in which distributed MIMO might be possible, there are serious implementation difficulties, the primary one being the need to eliminate phase and timing offsets between the jointly coordinated access points. In this paper we propose AirSync, a novel scheme which provides not only time but also phase synchronization, thus enabling distributed MIMO with full spatial multiplexing gains. AirSync locks the phase of all access points using a common reference broadcasted over the air in conjunction with a Kalman filter which closely tracks the phase drift. We have implemented AirSync as a digital circuit in the FPGA of the WARP radio platform. Our experimental testbed, comprised of two access points and two clients, shows that AirSync is able to achieve phase synchronization within a few degrees, and allows the system to nearly achieve the theoretical optimal multiplexing gain. We also discuss MAC and higher layer aspects of a practical deployment. To the best of our knowledge, AirSync offers the first ever realization of the full multiuser MIMO gain, namely the ability to increase the number of wireless clients linearly with the number of jointly coordinated access points, without reducing the per client rate.Comment: Submitted to Transactions on Networkin