A VLSI Decoder for the Golden code

The proposed golden code is an optimal space-time block for 2 times 2 multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system, to be used in wireless transmission to achieve high reliability and throughput. The aim of this work is the design of a VLSI decoder for a MIMO system coded with the golden code. This architecture is based on the sphere decoding algorithm that allows maximum likelihood decoding performance, with polynomial search complexity. The proposed architecture exhibits an inherent flexibility with respect to different modulation schemes (4, 16, 64-QAM), which makes it particularly suitable for adaptive modulation schemes.