Switching between diversity and multiplexing in MIMO systems

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication systems can offer high data rates through spatial multiplexing or substantial diversity using transmit diversity. In this letter, switching between spatial multiplexing and transmit diversity is proposed as a simple way to improve the diversity performance of spatial multiplexing. In the proposed approach, for a fixed rate, either multiplexing or diversity is chosen based on the instantaneous channel state and the decision is conveyed to the transmitter via a low-rate feedback channel. The minimum Euclidean distance at the receiver is computed for spatial multiplexing and transmit diversity and is used to derive the selection criterion. Additionally, the Demmel condition number of the matrix channel is shown to provide a sufficient condition for multiplexing to outperform diversity. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate improvement over either multiplexing or diversity individually in terms of bit error rate.