Optimization of Nonlinear Signal Constellations for Real-World MIMO Channels

The performance of spatial multiplexing (SM) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems is highly dependent on the richness of scattering, the presence of dominant components, and the interelement spacings. In this paper, a new interpretation of the impact of transmit correlation on the performance of SM is given based on a so-called “symbol-related array factor.” Nonlinear signal constellations for SM over real-world fading channels are then designed by minimizing an estimate of the average symbol error rate under an average transmit power constraint. The new transmission scheme exploits the spectral efficiency advantage of SM and the robustness of eigen-beamforming. Through simulations, it is shown to be more robust against fading correlations and high Ricean K-factors than SM using the classical phase shift keying (PSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) constellations. The symbol error rate performance of this scheme is not affected by a change in the propagation environment or the interelement distance. Furthermore, if the scheme is used on the uplink, no explicit rate-consuming feedback link from the base station to the mobile station is required.