Rapid MIMO-OFDM software defined radio system prototyping

Combining MIMO with OFDM, it is possible to significantly reduce receiver complexity as OFDM greatly simplifies equalization at the receiver. MIMO-OFDM is currently being considered for a number of developing wireless standards; consequently, the study of MIMO-OFDM in realistic environments is of great importance. This paper describes an approach for prototyping a MIMO-OFDM systems using a flexible software defined radio (SDR) system architecture in conjunction with commercially available hardware. An emphasis on software permits a focus on algorithm and system design issues rather than implementation and hardware configuration. The penalty of this flexibility, however, is that the ease of use comes at the expense of overall throughput. To illustrate the benefits of the proposed architecture, applications to MIMO-OFDM system prototyping and preliminary MIMO channel measurements are presented. A detailed description of the hardware is provided along with downloadable software to reproduce the system.