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System and Method for Switching Transmission Method to Multiple Users from Multiple Antennas

Project ID: 1738-AP
Available for licensing

Background

In a multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system, a single base station transmits to multiple user terminals simultaneously over the same frequency band and time slot. The main benefit of a multi-user MIMO communication system is that the substantial increase in sum data-rate can be achieved with suitable encoding of the transmit signal.

To realize multi-user MIMO communication, there are two main transmission strategies. One strategy, known as the channel inversion or zero forcing, is to employ the channel matrix known at the transmitter and encode the transmit signal by the inverse of the channel matrix. Another strategy, known as the vector perturbation, is to suitably perturb the transmit signal based on the knowledge of the channel matrix and then apply the channel inversion method. The channel inversion technique is simpler to implement than vector perturbation, at the expense of degraded link quality.

Invention Description

This invention describes a system and method to switch between the channel inversion method and vector perturbation method using the channel state information at the transmitter. The proposed system and method adapts the transmission method to reduce computational complexity while maintaining full transmit diversity for robust link reliability.

Benefits

Reduced power consumption in the multi-user MIMO communication transmitter
Reduced computational time in the multi-user MIMO communication transmitter
Provides superior link reliability than the channel inversion technique alone

Features

Reduces the computational complexity while maintaining full transmit diversity for robust link reliability

Market Potential/Applications

The proposed invention is applicable to present and future multi-user MIMO communication equipment such as IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.16e/m, 3GPP LTE, 3GPP LTE-Advanced, 3GPP2 UMB, and future wireless standards which may employ multi-user multiple antenna technologies.

UT Researcher

Robert W. Heath, Jr., Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
Takao Inoue, Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

OTC Contact Information

Jitendra Jain, Licensing Specialist
jjain@otc.utexas.edu
512-471-9055