A low-complexity noncoherent iterative space-time demodulator

Turbo coded unitary space-time modulation (USTM) can provide large coding gain as compared to uncoded USTM. Because the noncoherent space-time maximum a posteriori demodulator is very complicated, in this letter, we propose a new low-complexity noncoherent iterative space-time demodulator for the USTM constructed from pilot symbol-assisted modulation. The proposed demodulator utilizes both hard and soft decisions from the turbo decoder to simplify the computational task as well as produce reliable soft outputs. Several examples demonstrate that this demodulator has both low complexity and good error performance.