Efficient link layer transmission strategy for MIMO wireless systems

This paper investigates link layer data units (frames) transmission strategies for MIMO wireless systems using spatial multiplexing. A new effective transmission strategy is proposed in this paper in order to decrease the frame error rate by making use of the multi-channel transmission characteristics provided in MIMO systems. The main idea is to select, in the context of a V-BLAST transmitter, between transmitting each frame, where a frame corresponds to an error correcting code word, from one antenna or from multiple antennas according to the channel state. Limited binary feedback information allows the transmitter to select the appropriate frame transmission policy. Analytical studies and simulations provided in this paper determine the optimal selection criterion and highlight the gains obtained by the proposed transmission strategy. This paper confirms that always transmitting each frame from multiple antennas gives quasi-optimal performances