Optimization and performance analysis of zero forcing decision feedback detector for MIMO block-fading channels with per-antenna power control

In multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna systems, the zero forcing decision feedback detector (ZF-DFD) is used to recover transmit signals. In this paper, we propose a per-antenna power control (PAPC) scheme based on ZF-DFD for MIMO block-fading channels. The optimal power controlled ZF-DFD can minimize the block error rate (BLER) and maximize the lower bound of the channel's free distance at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region subject to a power constraint. Additionally, the optimal power controlled ZF-DFD can achieve this BLER performance without any ordering operation at the receiver. The performance analysis among the conventional ZF-DFD without feedback, the optimal power controlled ZF-DFD with power feedback, and the ZF-DFD with full channel state information feedback shows that the optimal ZF-DFD achieves a tradeoff between performance and feedback overhead. We compare the bit error rate (BER) and BLER performance of the optimal ZF-DFD with other detectors without power feedback by simulation. In simulations, the execution times required by these detectors are also reported to compare their complexity. It comes straight that the optimal power controlled ZF-DFD proposed in this paper can achieve good performance with small feedback overhead and have low complexity.