MIMO systems with low-resolution ADCs: Linear coding approach

This paper considers a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system with low-resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). In this system, we present a new MIMO detection approach using coding theory. The principal idea of the proposed approach is to transform a non-linear MIMO channel to a linear MIMO channel by leveraging both a p-level quantizer and a lattice code where p ≥ 2. After transforming to the linear MIMO channel with the sets of finite input and output elements, efficient MIMO detection methods are proposed to attain both diversity and multiplexing gains by using algebraic coding theory. In particular, using the proposed methods, the analytical characterizations of achievable rates are derived for different MIMO configurations. One major observation is that the proposed approach is particularly useful for a large MIMO system with the ADCs that use a few bits.