Extended Space-Time Block Coding with Transmit Antenna Selection over Correlated Fading Channels

A new space-time block coded transmit antenna selection scheme over spatially correlated fading channels is presented. This scheme allows two or more transmit antennas to simultaneously use one radio frequency frontend. A system with four transmit antennas is considered in particular. The four antennas are selectively grouped into two subsets. Alamouti code is then applied on top of the subsets as if each was a single antenna. This scheme is shown to be more efficient than the conventional transmit antenna selection combined with Alamouti code in correlated channels. Moreover, it lowers the bitrate of the feedback channel.