Multiuser Detection for Nonlinear MIMO Uplink

For the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) uplink employing high-order quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signaling and with nonlinear high power amplifiers (HPAs) at mobile users' transmitters, the existing multiuser detection methods can no longer be applied. We propose a novel nonlinear multiuser detection scheme for the nonlinear MIMO uplink. Specifically, we adopt an effective B-spline parameterization of the nonlinear transmit HPAs and derive an efficient and accurate algorithm to identify the nonlinear MIMO uplink channel, including the nonlinear B-spline model of the nonlinear transmit HPAs and the estimate of the linear MIMO channel matrix. Moreover, as the direct result of this nonlinear MIMO channel identification, the B-spline inverse model of nonlinear transmit HPAs can readily be identified. The nonlinear multiuser detection can be effectively implemented by the zero-forcing linear detection based on the estimated linear MIMO channel and followed by compensating the nonlinear distortion of the nonlinear transmit HPAs based on the estimated B-spline inverse model. An extensive simulation investigation is performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed nonlinear multiuser detection scheme for nonlinear MIMO uplink with high-order QAM signaling.