Co-channel interference cancellation for space-time coded OFDM systems

Space-time coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a promising scheme for future wideband multimedia wireless communication systems. The combination of space-time coding (STC) and OFDM modulation promises an enhanced performance in terms of power and spectral efficiency. Such combination benefits from the diversity gain within the multiple-input-multiple-output ST coded system and the matured OFDM modulation for wideband wireless transmission. However, STC transmit diversity impairs the system´s interference suppression ability due to the use of multiple transmitters at each mobile. We propose an effective co-channel interference (CCI) cancellation method that employs angle diversity based on -steering beamforming or minimum variance distortion response beamforming. It is shown that the proposed method can effectively mitigate CCI while preserving the space-time structure, thereby, significantly improving the system´s interference suppression ability without significant bit-error rate performance degradation. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the proposed method can significantly combat the delay spread detrimental effects over multipath fading channels without the use of interleaving.