Low-complexity detection for space-time block coded spatial modulation

Space-time block coding (STBC) can increase the diversity order of spatial modulation MIMO systems. Current deployments consider the use of the optimal detector, which benefits from the decoupled ML detection typical of STBC systems. However, its adaptation to spatial modulation system presents computational complexity increase as more transmit antennas or larger modulation orders are employed, which may turn infeasible its implementation in systems with higher bit rates. This works presents a suboptimal detection strategy for STBC-SM systems based on the generation of a list of candidates, sorted after matched-filtering. A list-length management scheme performs the balance between performance and complexity. Results show that it can achieve near-optimal detection performance with significant computational cost reduction.