Space-time trellis code construction for fast fading channels

The need for bandwidth- and power-efficient wireless communication systems has raised considerable interest in space-time codes. In this work, we propose a systematic space-time code construction procedure for fast fading channels. The method can be used to design space-time codes for an arbitrary number of transmit antennas and any memoryless modulation. We introduce a new design criterion that ensures full spatial diversity and develop the code design method based on this criterion. The flexibility of the proposed approach is demonstrated by designing space-time trellis codes for 2, 3 and 4 transmit antennas with QPSK, 8PSK and 4ASK modulations