Semi-blind time-domain equalization for MIMO-OFDM systems

In this paper, a semi-blind time-domain equalization technique is proposed for general multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. The received OFDM symbols are shifted by more than or equal to the cyclic prefix (CP) length, and a blind equalizer is designed to completely suppress both intercarrier interference (ICI) and intersymbol interference (ISI) using second-order statistics of the shifted received OFDM symbols. Only a one-tap equalizer is needed to detect the time-domain signals from the blind equalizer output, and one pilot OFDM symbol is utilized to estimate the required channel state information for the design of the one-tap equalizer. The technique is applicable irrespective of whether the CP length is longer than, equal to, or shorter than the channel length. Computer simulations show that the proposed technique outperforms the existing techniques, and it is robust against the number of shifts in excess of the CP length. © 2008 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Reduced feedback and random beamforming for OFDM MIMO broadcast channels

It has been shown that random beamforming using partial channel state information (CSI) achieves the same throughput scaling as obtained from dirty paper coding for a broadcast (downlink) channel with M transmit antennas and K users where K is large. In this paper, we apply this scheme to wideband MIMO broadcast channels. By using OFDM, an L-tap wideband channel can be decomposed to N parallel narrowband channels (subcarriers), where N > L. Neighboring subcarriers are highly correlated. Therefore, we consider neighboring subcarriers as a cluster and find the closed form solution for the joint characteristic function of SINR values at two subcarriers in a cluster. We show numerically how the knowledge of the quality of the center subcarrier sheds light about the quality of other subcarriers in the same cluster, and address the issue of cluster size. In addition, through complex and asymptotic analysis, we show that for cluster size of order N/L√(log K) (for large K), users need only feedback the best SINR at the center subcarrier of each cluster in order for the transmitter to perform opportunistic beamforming and maintain the same throughput scaling as when full CSI is available. Using simulation results, we verify our analytical result and show that even fewer feedback can be tolerated, and larger clusters (N/2L) can be implemented for a small throughput hit

Efficient detection and scheduling for MIMO-OFDM systems

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas can be exploited to provide high data rate using a limited bandwidth through multiplexing gain. MIMO combined with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) could potentially provide high data rate and high spectral efficiency in frequency-selective fading channels. MIMO-OFDM technology has been widely employed in modern communication systems, such as Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX). However, most of the conventional schemes either are computationally prohibitive or underutilize the full performance gain provided by the inherent merits of MIMO and OFDM techniques. In the first part of this dissertation, we firstly study the channel matrix inversion which is commonly required in various MIMO detection schemes. An algorithm that exploits second-order extrapolation in the time domain is proposed to efficiently reduce the computational complexity. This algorithm can be applied to both linear detection and non-linear detection such as ordered successive interference cancellation (OSIC) while maintaining the system performance. Secondly, we study the complexity reduction for Lattice Reduction Aided Detection (LRAD) of MIMO-OFDM systems. We propose an algorithm that exploits the inherent feature of unimodular transformation matrix that remains the same for relatively highly correlated frequency components. This algorithm effectively eliminates the redundant brute-force lattice reduction iterations among adjacent subcarriers. Thirdly, we analyze the impact of channel coherence bandwidth on two LRAD algorithms. Analytical and simulation results demonstrate that carefully setting the initial calculation interval according to the coherence bandwidth is essential for both algorithms. The second part of this dissertation focuses on efficient multi-user (MU) scheduling and coordination for the uplink of WLAN that uses MIMO-OFDM techniques. On one hand, conventional MU-MIMO medium access control (MAC) protocols require large overhead, which lowers the performance gain of concurrent transmissions rendered by the multi-packet reception (MPR) capability of MIMO systems. Therefore, an efficient MU-MIMO uplink MAC scheduling scheme is proposed for future WLAN. On the other hand, single-user (SU) MIMO achieves multiplexing gain in the physical (PHY) layer and MU-MIMO achieves multiplexing gain in the MAC layer. In addition, the average throughput of the system varies depending on the number of antennas and users, average payload sizes, and signal-to-noise-ratios (SNRs). A comparison on the performance between SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO schemes for WLAN uplink is hence conducted. Simulation results indicate that a dynamic switch between the SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO is of significance for higher network throughput of WLAN uplink