Performance of MIMO space-time coded discrete modulations . II. Extensions and frequency-selective fading channels

For pt. see ibid., p.1177-81(2002).We continue the consideration of the maximum-likelihood decoding performance of MIMO space-time random coded communication on quasi-static fading channels. First, we generalize the formulation to frequency-selective fading channels. By the equivalence of multipath fading and delay diversity coding, we show the system can be analyzed with an equivalent flat fading representation. We then present numerical results of the p% cutoff capacities, which are defined as the highest supportable rates for target cutoff probabilities at p%. Our discussion show how this new notion can provide a unified view of three main theoretic results of MIMO space-time coding: rate enhancements, achievable diversity gains, and performance of specific codes. As a result, this analysis of cutoff capacities reveals the relative strengths and weaknesses of several space-time coding schemes in interesting and surprising ways.