A V-BLAST Based Virtual MIMO Transmission Scheme for Sensor Network Lifetime Maximization

As Wireless Sensor Networks find more and more application in daily life, energy efficiency of these networks, which require unattended operations, is of paramount concern. In this paper, we propose an energy-efficient virtual MIMO transmission scheme based on V-BLAST technique. The proposed scheme does not require transmitter-side cooperation (joint STBC encoding), which is more suitable for the energy-constrained wireless sensor networks compared with the Alamouti-based virtual MIMO scheme. Simulation results show significant energy savings and network lifetime extension can be achieved by using our scheme.