On the diversity order of transmit antenna selection for spatial multiplexing systems

In the context of antenna selection for MIMO diversity systems, the problem of optimal diversity order is well addressed. On the other hand, the diversity order achieved by antenna selection in spatial multiplexing systems, especially those exploiting practical coding and decoding schemes, has not been rigorously analyzed thus far. In Zhang, H, et al. (2005), we propose a new geometrical framework for theoretically analyzing the achievable diversity order when L = 2 transmit antennas are selected for an N_R × N_T SM system with linear receivers. In this paper, we extend it to the general scenarios with 2 ≤ L ≤ N_T, and both linear and decision feedback receivers are considered. A diversity order of (N_T-L+1)(N_R-L+1) are rigorously shown to be achievable by the optimal selection, which was previously partly conjectured by other researchers through simulation results.