A reduced-complexity maximum-likelihood method for multiuser detection

Multiuser or joint detection has recently been receiving significant research interest because of its potential for the significant increase in system capacity and performance. Among the conventional multiuser detection schemes such as the minimum mean-squared error and successive interference cancellation-based ones, maximum-likelihood multiuser detection has the best system performance. However, the complexity of maximum-likelihood detection (MLD) increases exponentially in the number of users and constellation size. In this paper, a low-complexity MLD scheme based on the use of a sensitive-bits algorithm is proposed. It is demonstrated that the proposed method can greatly reduce the computational complexity with a minimal penalty in performance compared with the exhaustive optimal MLD scheme.