Bit-interleaved coded modulations for multiple-input multiple-output channels

We describe a soft feedback iterative decoding technique for bit-interleaved coded modulations (BICM) where the modulator uses multiple transmitting antennas and the receiver employs space-time coherent detection with multiple antennas. We investigate the bit error rate and frame error rate performance of this technique applied to two families of error-control codes: simple nonrecursive binary convolutional codes and parallel turbo codes based on two recursive constituents. Two different types of fading channels are considered: independent flat Rayleigh and block fading channels. A 64-state rate 1/2 binary convolutional code performs at 1.5 dB from the outage capacity with perfect channel state information and at 3 dB with expectation-maximization estimation on the block fading channel.