Precoding technique for multiuser MIMO based on eigenmode selection and MMSE

• US 8,306,089 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2009
• Issued: 11/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Sampath, Hemanth, Vermani, Sameer, van Nee, Richard, Merlin, Simone
• Primary Examiner(s): Ahn, Sam K
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vlahos, Sophia
• Application Number:
  US12/401,506
• Publication Number:
  US 20100232352A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,337 Days
• Field of Search: 375/135, 375/146, 375/260, 375/267, 375/295, 375/296, 375/299, 370/203, 370/208, 370/334, 455/101, 455/69, 455/103, 455/114.3, 455/91, 455/114.2
• US Class Current: 375/135
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0417 Feedback systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0634 Antenna weights or vector/matrix coefficients

Abstract

The present disclosure proposes a method for precoding of transmission signal at an access point of a multiuse system based on eigenmode selection and minimum mean square error (MMSE) processing. The most reliable eigenmodes of every multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel in the system can be selected at each user terminal and corresponding eigenvalues and eigenvectors can be fed back to the access point. The linear MMSE precoding (beamforming) applied at the access point based on the selected eigenmodes may provide an improved transmission capacity performance.

Claims

1. A method for a multiuser wireless communication system, comprising:

generating an equivalent channel matrix, using eigenvectors and corresponding eigenvalues of channels between an access point and a plurality of user terminals;

computing an intermediate matrix using the generated equivalent channel matrix;

generating a precoding matrix based on the intermediate matrix, wherein generating the precoding matrix based on the intermediate matrix comprises;

inverting the intermediate matrix using a minimum mean square error (MMSE) technique; and

multiplying the inverted intermediate matrix with a plurality of diagonal matrices and with a Hermitian version of the equivalent channel matrix; and

transmitting a precoded signal based on the precoding matrix.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein computing the intermediate matrix using the generated equivalent channel matrix further comprises:

using a diagonal matrix and a variance of noise observed at each user terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the equivalent channel matrix, the intermediate matrix and the precoding matrix are all constructed for a plurality of tones in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system or in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein tones from the plurality of tones are spaced apart by N tones, where N is greater than or equal to one.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

spatially processing a transmission signal using the generated precoding matrix.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the access point is equipped with one or more antennas.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving quantized selected eigenvalues, corresponding quantized eigenvectors and a channel quality information (CQI) from the plurality of user terminals.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the CQI comprises a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the particular user terminal.

9. An apparatus for a multiuser wireless communication system, comprising:

programmable logic device for generating an equivalent channel matrix, using eigenvectors and corresponding eigenvalues of channels between an access point and a plurality of user terminals;

programmable logic device for computing an intermediate matrix using the generated equivalent channel matrix;

programmable logic device for generating a precoding matrix based on the intermediate matrix, wherein the programmable logic device for generating the precoding matrix based on the intermediate matrix comprises;

programmable logic device for inverting the intermediate matrix using a minimum mean square error (MMSE) technique; and

programmable logic device for multiplying the inverted intermediate matrix with a plurality of diagonal matrices and with a Hermitian version of the equivalent channel matrix; and

programmable logic device for transmitting a precoded signal based on the precoding matrix.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the programmable logic device for computing the intermediate matrix using the generated equivalent channel matrix further comprises:

programmable logic device for using a diagonal matrix and a variance of noise observed at each user terminal.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the equivalent channel matrix, the intermediate matrix and the precoding matrix are all constructed for a plurality of tones in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system or in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein tones from the plurality of tones are spaced apart by N tones, where N is greater than or equal to one.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

programmable logic device for spatially processing a transmission signal using the generated precoding matrix.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the access point is equipped with one or more antennas.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

programmable logic device for receiving quantized selected eigenvalues, corresponding quantized eigenvectors and a channel quality information (CQI) from the plurality of user terminals.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the CQI comprises a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the particular user terminal.

17. An apparatus for a multiuser wireless communication system, comprising:

means for generating an equivalent channel matrix,. using eigenvectors and corresponding eigenvalues of channels between an access point and a plurality of user terminals;

means for computing an intermediate matrix using the generated equivalent channel matrix;

means for generating a precoding matrix based on the intermediate matrix, wherein the means for generating the precoding matrix based on the intermediate matrix comprises;

means for inverting the intermediate matrix using a minimum mean square error (MMSE) technique; and

means for multiplying the inverted intermediate matrix with a plurality of diagonal matrices and with a Hermitian version of the equivalent channel matrix; and

means for transmitting a precoded signal based on the precoding matrix.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the means for computing the intermediate matrix using the generated equivalent channel matrix further comprises:

means for using a diagonal matrix and a variance of noise observed at each user terminal.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the equivalent channel matrix, the intermediate matrix and the precoding matrix are all constructed for a plurality of tones in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system or in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein tones from the plurality of tones are spaced apart by N tones, where N is greater than or equal to one.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for spatially processing a transmission signal using the generated precoding matrix.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the access point is equipped with one or more antennas.

23. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for receiving quantized selected eigenvalues, corresponding quantized eigenvectors and a channel quality information (CQI) from the plurality of user terminals.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the CQI comprises a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the particular user terminal.

25. A computer-program product for a multiuser wireless communication system, comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors and the instructions comprising:

instructions for generating an equivalent channel matrix,. using eigenvectors and corresponding eigenvalues of channels between an access point and a plurality of user terminals;

instructions for computing an intermediate matrix using the generated equivalent channel matrix;

instructions for generating a precoding matrix based on the intermediate matrix, wherein the instructions for generating the precoding matrix based on the intermediate matrix further comprise;

instructions for inverting the intermediate matrix using a minimum mean square error (MMSE) technique; and

instructions for multiplying the inverted intermediate matrix with a plurality of diagonal matrices and with a Hermitian version of the equivalent channel matrix; and

instructions for transmitting a precoded signal based on the precoding matrix.

26. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein the instructions for computing the intermediate matrix using the generated equivalent channel matrix further comprise:

instructions for using a diagonal matrix and a variance of noise observed at each user terminal.

27. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein the equivalent channel matrix, the intermediate matrix and the precoding matrix are all constructed for a plurality of tones in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system or in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system.

28. The computer-program product of claim 27, wherein tones from the plurality of tones are spaced apart by N tones, where N is greater than or equal to one.

29. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein the instructions further comprise:

instructions for spatially processing a transmission signal using the generated precoding matrix.

30. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein the access point is equipped with one or more antennas.

31. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein the instructions further comprise:

instructions for receiving quantized selected eigenvalues, corresponding quantized eigenvectors and a channel quality information (CQI) from the plurality of user terminals.

32. The computer-program product of claim 31, wherein the CQI comprises a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the particular user terminal.