Exact and Closed-Form Error Performance Analysis for Hard MMSE-SIC Detection in MIMO Systems

We investigate the exact error performance of hard minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) detection possibly with successive interference cancellation (SIC) in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. To facilitate the analysis, we start with an exact bit-error rate (BER) analysis for a general system with decision statistic, z=ax+u, where a>;0, x is the transmitted signal, and u is an arbitrarily distributed noise component which is possibly dependent on the signal component x. For this general system, we derive the exact and closed-form BER expressions for M-ary pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) and arbitrary rectangular quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), which include the well-known BER result of as a special case. Furthermore, by formulating the MIMO MMSE decision statistics in the same form as z in the general system, we derive the exact and closed-form instantaneous BER and symbol-error rate (SER) expressions for MIMO hard MMSE detection with/without SIC employing PAM and QAM. Finally, the validity of our derived error probability expressions is verified through extensive Monte Carlo simulations and the results reported in the literature.