A matrix-algebraic approach to successive interference cancellation in CDMA

In this paper, we describe linear successive interference cancellation (SIC) based on matrix-algebra. We show that linear SIC schemes (single stage and multistage) correspond to linear matrix filtering that can be performed directly on the received chip-matched filtered signal vector without explicitly performing the interference cancellation. This leads to an analytical expression for calculating the resulting bit-error rate which is of particular use for short code systems. Convergence issues are discussed, and the concept of /spl epsiv/-convergence is introduced to determine the number of stages required for practical convergence for both short and long codes.