V-BLAST/MAP : a new symbol detection algorithm for mimo channels

Abstract

In this thesis, we introduce a new symbol detection algorithm for MIMO channels. This algorithm is an extension of the well-known V-BLAST algorithm. The new algorithm, V-BLAST/MAP, combines elements of the V-BLAST algorithm and the maximum a-posteriori (MAP) rule. The original V-BLAST algorithm is a multi-layer symbol detection scheme which detects symbols transmitted at different transmit antennas successively in a certain data-independent order. The proposed V-BLAST/MAP algorithm differs from V-BLAST only in the ordering strategy of the symbols detected. The complexity of the V-BLAST/MAP is higher than that of V-BLAST; however, the performance improvement is also significant. Simulations show that V-BLAST/MAP achieves symbol error rates close to the optimal maximum likelihood (ML) scheme while retaining the low-complexity nature of the V-BLAST.