Data detection of amplify-and-forward user cooperation in MIMO broadcasting systems without channel state information feedback

In this paper, we consider the broadcasting of data streams from a multiantenna source to several single-antenna or multiantenna users in a data broadcasting network. To improve the received data quality for all single-antenna users simultaneously while not compromising the data rates of multiantenna users, we propose a new cooperation scheme among single-antenna users. Users cooperate in the amplify-and-forward (AF) mode to jointly detect the spatially multiplexed data streams from the source with estimated channel state information. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed channel estimation scheme based on very few pilots in conjunction with the maximum likelihood (ML) detection scheme.