A comparative study of MIMO detection algorithms for wideband spatial multiplexing systems

The implementation of wideband MIMO systems poses a major challenge to hardware designers due to the huge processing power required for MIMO detection. To achieve this goal with a complete VLSI solution, channel coding and MIMO detection are preferably separated so that each of them can be fitted into a single chip. In this paper, a comparative study is presented regarding various uncoded adaptive and non-adaptive MIMO detection algorithms. Intended to serve as a reference for system designers, this comparison is performed from several different perspectives including theoretical formulation, simulated BER/PER performance, and hardware complexity. All the simulations are conducted within MIMO-OFDM framework and with a packet structure similar to that of the IEEE 802.11a/g standard. As the comparison results show, the RLS algorithm appears to be an affordable solution for a wideband MIMO system targeted at gigabit wireless transmission. As a direct result of this work, an ASIC for a 25 MHz wideband 8 × 8 MIMO-OFDM system using RLS has been designed and fabricated.