Serially-Concatenated LDGM Codes for MIMO Channels

We investigate the ability of serially-concatenated low density generator matrix (SCLDGM) codes to approach the capacity of ergodic multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels. First, we explain how to design good SCLDGM codes using extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) analysis and optimum detection. However, optimum detection becomes unfeasible in many cases of practical interest where the number of transmitting antennas and/or the number of bits per constellation symbol is large. In this case, we resort to list sphere detection (LSD), considering two versions: maximum likelihood (ML) and maximum a posteriori (MAP). Again, we use EXIT analysis to obtain good SCLDGM codes for these specific LSD versions. We provide examples of optimized rate 1/2 SCLDGM codes and show that they perform within 1 dB from the theoretical capacity limit for a large number of antenna configurations and modulation formats. Finally, we discuss how to iteratively improve channel estimation using the soft information computed during the decoding process. We also show how the complexity of channel estimation is reduced by utilizing the candidate list calculated by the LSD.