Iterative Detection and Decoding of MIMO Signals Using Low-Complexity Soft-In/Soft-Out Detector

In this paper, we investigate iterative detection and decoding, a.k.a. turbo detection, for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission. Specifically, we consider using a low complexity soft-in/soft-out MIMO detector based on belief propagation over a pair-wise graph that accepts a priori information feedback from a channel decoder. Simulation results confirm that considerable performance improvement can be obtained with only a few detection-and-decoding iterations if convolutional channel coding is used. A brief estimate is given of the overall complexity of turbo detectors, to verify the key argument that the performance of a maximum a posteriori (MAP) detector (without turbo iteration) can be achieved, at much lower computation cost, by using the low complexity soft-in/soft-out MIMO detector under consideration.