Challenges in the Design of Next Generation WLAN Terminals

In recent years advancements in the field of wireless communications have generated interest in the deployment of multiple antenna systems (MIMO) for mobile terminals. Next generation wireless local area networks (WLANs) standards such as IEEE 8(12.1 In are based on MIMO and will be operating at bit rates above 200 Mbps. The physical layer (PHY) of the 802.11n supports multiple modulation schemes, multiple antennas configuration, variable code rate and multiple space-time coding schemes. Receiver architecture should be able to support all these features preferably in a single reconfigurable architecture. Besides all these requirements need to be designed and implemented under the strict low power and low complexity (low area) design criteria.