Combining Eigen-Beamforming and Differential Space-Time Modulation for Ricean Fading Channels

In this paper eigen-beamforming and differential space-time modulation (DSTM) are combined together to construct a robust and relatively simple system for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) Ricean fading channels. A transmission scheme with feedback link is developed here that combines beamforming with differential multi-antenna modulation based on orthogonal space-time block coding. The power loading algorithm of the eigen-beamformer is derived based on the principle of minimizing error probability bound. The optimality leads to better performance than traditional STBC transmission scheme. The simulation results proved that the combination of the eigen-beamforming and DSTM is an effective way to solve the problem with performance, complexity, and transmission rate for wireless communications.