Multiple antenna MMSE based downlink precoding with quantized feedback or channel mismatch

In this paper, we consider the downlink of a multiuser wireless communication system with multiple antennas at the base station and users each with a single receive antenna. It is known that when channel state information (CSI) is available at the transmitter a large performance gain can be achieved. In a system employing time-division duplexing (TDD), CSI can be obtained at the base station if there is reciprocity between the forward and reverse channels. CSI can also be conveyed from the users to the base station via a limited-rate feedback channel in a frequency-division duplexing (FDD) system. In any case, channel estimation errors are inevitable due to the presence of background noise in the estimated signal and due to the finite number of feedback bits used in a limited-rate feedback system model. In this paper, we first consider the general case when partial CSI is available at the transmitter. We derive an MMSE based precoding technique that considers channel estimation errors as an integral part of the system design. Using rate-distortion theory and the generalized Lloyd vector quantization algorithm, we then specialize our results for the more practical limited-rate feedback system model. Compared to previously proposed precoding techniques such as channel inversion and regularized channel inversion, it is shown that the proposed precoding technique significantly improves the average bit error rate (BER) in the system. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed technique is investigated in the high signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) regime. It is shown that the proposed technique suffers from a ceiling effect that asymptotically limits the system performance.