Shannon Capacity and Symbol Error Rate of Space-Time Block Codes in MIMO Rayleigh Channels With Channel estimation Error

Space-time block coding (STBC) is an attractive solution for improving quality in wireless links. In this paper, we analyze the impact of channel estimation error on the ergodic capacity and symbol error rate (SER) for space-time block coded multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. We derive a closed-form capacity expression over MIMO Rayleigh channels with channel estimation error. Moreover, we derive an exact closed-form SER for general PAM/PSK/QAM with channel estimation error. We show that, as expected, channel estimation error introduces the capacity loss and diversity gain loss. Furthermore, as the number of transmit and receive antennas increases, the sensitivity of the STBC system to channel estimation error increases. Simulation results demonstrate the accuracy of our analysis.