Space-time block code design for communication in spread systems

The problem of designing space-time signal constellations for communication in spread multiple-antenna wireless systems over Rayleigh fading channel is examined. Using the asymptotic union bound on codeword error probability as design criterion, codes based on general complex-valued symbols are obtained with a gradient search optimization technique. New space-time constellations for some particular wireless scenarios are constructed and their performance is assessed. Computer simulations illustrate that significant improvement over state-of-art schemes can be obtained.