MIMO throughput optimisation via quantised rate control

The problem of throughput maximisation in a wireless multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system using a quantised feedback, which is an appropriate model for practical systems with limited feedback capacity, is considered. Unlike the ergodic capacity that can be achieved through power control only, maximising the throughput in the block fading channels is based on appropriate rate control strategy. The optimal quantised rate control design for general MIMO systems is formulated and a gradient descent search algorithm to find the optimal solution is employed. It is seen that the proposed quantised rate control scheme with only a few bits of feedback considerably improves the throughput of a MIMO system. With the same amount of feedback overhead, the proposed quantised rate control with constant power is compared with the optimal quantised power control strategy with an optimised constant rate, and the result demonstrates the importance of rate control in throughput maximisation. The effect of quantised rate control in MIMO systems employing different automatic repeat request schemes is also investigated