A comparative study of MIMO detection algorithms for wideband spatial multiplexing systems

The implementaition of wideband MIMO system posts a major challenge to hardware designers due to the huge processing power required for MIMO detection. To achieve this goal with complete VLSI solution, channel coding and MIMO detection are preferrably separated so that each of them can be fit into a single chip. In this paper, a comparative study is presented regarding various uncoded adaptive and non-adaptive MIMO detection algorithms. Intended to serve as a reference for system designers, this comparison is performed from several different perspectives including theoretical formulation, simulated BER/PER performance, and hardware complexity. All the simulations are conducted within MIMO-OFDM framework and with a packet structure similar to that of IEEE 802.11a/g standard. As the comparison results show, the RLS algorithm appears to be an affordable solution for wideband MIMO system targeting at Giga-bit wireless transmission. As a direct result of this work, an ASIC for 25MHz wideband 8 x 8 MIMO-OFDM system using RLS has been designed and fabricated.