Special issue on coding and signal processing for MIMO system

Projections indicate that by the year 2005 the number of wireless subscribers will exceed that of wireline subscribers, a fact that promises both an explosive growth in wireless services as well as a rapid convergence with the Internet. The wireless challenges are varied and many: multimedia traffic requiring high data rates, networking requiring seamless connectivity, mobility causing the physical channel to change rapidly, portability contrasting with the need of a long battery life, etc. In addition, fading, limited bandwidth and power, and interferences impair the wireless channel to an extent that makes it very difficult to meet the requirements for high-quality transmission.