Space-time processing for wireless communications

Space-time processing can improve network capacity, coverage, and quality by reducing co-channel interference (CCI) while enhancing diversity and array gain. This article focuses largely on the receive (mobile-to-base station) time-division multiple access (TDMA) (nonspread modulation) application for high-mobility networks. We describe a large (macro) cell propagation channel and discuss different physical effects such as path loss, fading delay spread, angle spread, and Doppler spread. We also develop a signal model incorporating channel effects. Both forward-link (transmit) and reverse-link (receive) channels are considered and the relationship between the two is discussed. Single- and multiuser models are treated for four important space-time processing problems, and the underlying spatial and temporal structure are discussed as are different algorithmic approaches to reverse link space-time professing with blind and nonblind methods for single- and multiple-user cases. We cover forward-link space-time algorithms and we outline methods for estimation of multipath parameters. We also discuss applications of space-time processing to CDMA, applications of space-time techniques to current cellular systems, and industry trends.