On the design, selection algorithm and performance analysis of limited feedback transmit beamforming

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems achieve significant diversity and array gains by using transmit beamforming. When complete channel state information (CSI) is not available at the transmitter, a common set of beamformers (codebook) is used by both the transmitter and the receiver. For each channel realization, the best beamformer is selected at the receiver and its index is sent back to the transmitter via a limited feedback channel. In this paper, a codebook design method using the genetic algorithm is proposed, which reduces the design complexity and achieves large minimum-distance codebooks. Exploiting the specific structure of these beamformers, an order and bound algorithm is proposed to reduce the beamformer selection complexity at the receiver side. The exact bit error rate (BER) of the optimal beamforming in finite-series expression is used to facilitate the BER analysis of limited feedback beamforming. By employing a geometrical approach, an approximate BER of limited feedback beamforming is derived when the codebook size is relatively large (high resolution analysis). The simulation results show that the approximate BER is comparatively tight even for small size codebooks.