Optimal pilot spacing and power in rate-adaptive MIMO diversity systems with imperfect CSI

In this paper, performance of a rate-adaptive multiple-input multiple-output diversity system with imperfect channel state information is analyzed and optimized. Space-time block coding is utilized to exploit spatial diversity and to thereby combat some of the fading in wireless channel communications. The remaining fading is tacked by means of adaptive coded modulation. The pilot symbol period and the power allocated to pilot and data symbols are optimized in such a way that the average spectral efficiency is maximized. At the same time, the instantaneous (with respect to predicted channel-signal-to-noise ratio) bit error rate is maintained below a desired level. The average time duration that the channel stays within a certain interval, the average fade region duration, is also derived. A numerical example is given for uncorrelated flat Rayleigh fading subchannels with Jakes spectrum.