Robust sequential interference cancellation for space division multiple access communications

In this paper, we consider a multiuser detection scheme for space division multiple access communication systems. Sequential interference cancellation (SIC) procedures are subject to performance degradation when the antenna array is only partially calibrated. We propose to incorporate robust beamforming algorithms into the SIC procedure to compensate for the array misalignment. We show by a simulation study that the proposed combination outperforms conventional SIC procedures for various degrees of array misalignment, different SNR values, several array configurations, and two modulation constellations (namely, QPSK and 16-QAM).