Energy-Efficient Power Allocation for Point-to-Point MIMO Systems over the Rayleigh Fading Channel

It is well-established that transmitting at full power is the most spectral-efficient power allocation strategy for point-to-point (P2P) multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems, however, can this strategy be energy efficient as well? In this letter, we address the most energy-efficient power allocation policy for symmetric P2P MIMO systems by accurately approximating in closed-form their optimal transmit power when a realistic MIMO power consumption model is considered. In most cases, being energy efficient implies a reduction in transmit and overall consumed powers at the expense of a lower spectral efficiency.