Performance analysis of space-time trellis codes with transmit antenna selection in Rayleigh fading channels

In this paper we investigate the error performance of a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) scheme combining transmit antenna selection (TAS) and space-time trellis codes (STTCs), which is referred to as the TAS/STTC scheme. In this scheme, two transmit antennas, which maximize the total received signal power, are selected to transmit the full-rank baseline STTCs designed for two transmit antennas. An upper bound on the pairwise error probability (PEP) of this scheme is derived in quasistatic flat Rayleigh fading channels. It is shown that, as long as the baseline STTC has a full rank, a full diversity order can be achieved, as if all the transmit antennas were used. This scheme has a fixed low decoding complexity as for the baseline STTC and a full diversity order can be achieved with a small memory order. Therefore, the TAS/STTC scheme provides a new approach to the design of MIMO system achieving a high diversity order based on the existing STTCs designed for a small number of transmit antennas.