Analysis and performance of some basic space-time architectures

In this paper, we discuss some of the most basic architectural superstructures for wireless links with multiple antennas: M at the transmit site and N at the receive site. Toward leveraging the gains of the last half century of coding theory, we emphasize those structures that can be composed using spatially one dimensional coders and decoders. These structures are investigated primarily under a probability of outage constraint. The random matrix channel is assumed to hold steady for such a large number of M-dimensional vector symbol transmission times, that an infinite time horizon Shannon analysis provides useful insights. The resulting extraordinary capacities are contrasted for architectures that differ in the way that they manage self-interference in the presence of additive receiver noise. A universally optimal architecture with a diagonal space-time layering is treated, as is an architecture with horizontal space-time layering and an architecture with a single outer code. Some capacity asymptotes for large numbers of antennas are also included. Some results for frequency selective channels are presented: It is only necessary to feedback M rates, one per transmit antenna, to attain capacity. Also, capacity of an (M,N) link is, in a certain sense, invariant with respect to signaling format.