System and method for antenna selection

1. In a receiver having one or more RF chains and a first plurality of receive antennas, a method for selecting a subset of the first plurality of receive antennas to receive a transmitted RF signal, the method comprising:

establishing a second plurality of possible subsets of the first plurality of receive antennas for each possible coding rate;

determining a maximum date rate among the second plurality of possible subsets of the first plurality of receive antennas for each coding rate;

selecting the coding rate with the highest maximum data rate;

determining a second plurality of output bit error rates of the receiver corresponding to the second plurality of possible subsets of the first plurality of receive antennas for the selected coding rate;

identifying a minimum of the second plurality of output bit error rates for the selected coding rate;

selecting one of the second plurality of possible subsets of the first plurality of receive antennas corresponding to the minimum of the second plurality of output bit error rates for the selected coding rate; and

connecting the one or more RF chains to the receive antennas of the selected one of the second plurality of possible subsets.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second plurality of output bit error rates are approximated by a closed-form expression.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the closed form expression is one of a) y=−tan h(x), b) y=−[(1−e −2√{square root over (x)} )+(1−e −1.8x )], c) y=−[(1−e −1.3√{square root over (x)} )+(1−e −x )], d) y=−(1−e −0.2x ), or e) y=−(1−e −0.35√{square root over (x)} ).

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the closed-form expression is dependent upon coding and/or modulation of the transmitted RF signal.

5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the closed-form expression is a function of an output signal to noise ratio or an output signal-to-noise-and interference ratio of the receiver.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of receive antennas are greater in number than the one or more RF chains and wherein a size of each of the second plurality of possible subsets is equivalent to a number of the one or more RF chains.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the transmitted RF signal comprises at least one of: a code division multiple access signal, a single carrier signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal and a UWB signal.

8. In a transmitter having one or more RF chains and a first plurality of transmit antennas, a method for selecting a subset of the first plurality of transmit antennas for transmission of an RF signal as a corresponding plurality of RF output signals subsequently received by a receiver, the method comprising:

establishing a second plurality of possible subsets of the first plurality of transmit antennas for each possible coding rate;

determining a maximum date rate among the second plurality of possible subsets of the first plurality of transmit antennas for each coding rate;

selecting the coding rate with the highest maximum data rate;

determining a second plurality of output bit error rates of the receiver corresponding to the second plurality of possible subsets of the first plurality of transmit antennas for the selected coding rate;

identifying a minimum of the second plurality of output bit error rates for the selected coding rate;

selecting one of the second plurality of possible subsets of the first plurality of transmit antennas corresponding to the minimum of the second plurality of output bit error rates for the selected coding rate; and

connecting the one or more RF chains to the transmit antennas of the selected one of the second plurality of possible subsets.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the second plurality of output bit error rates are approximated by a closed-form expression.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the closed-form expression is one of a) y=−tan h(x), b) y=−[(1−e −2√{square root over (x)} )+(1−e −1.8x )], c) y=−[(1−e −1.3√{square root over (x)} )+(1−e −x )], d) y=−(1−e −0.2x ), or e) y=−(1−e −0.35√{square root over (x)} ).

11. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the closed-form expression is dependent upon coding and/or modulation of the plurality of RF output signals.

12. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the closed-form expression comprises a function of an output signal to noise ratio or an output signal-to-noise-and interference ratio of the receiver.

13. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the plurality of RF output signals comprises at least one of: a code division multiple access signal, a single carrier signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal and a UWB signal.

14. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first plurality of transmit antennas are greater in number than the one or more RF chains and wherein a size of each of the second plurality of possible subsets is equivalent to a number of the one or more RF chains.

15. In a communication system including a transmitter having a plurality of transmit antennas disposed to transmit a set of spatially-multiplexed RF output signals through a channel using two or more transmit RF chains and a receiver having a plurality of receive antennas disposed to receive the set of spatially-multiplexed RF output signals and to responsively generate a set of spatially-multiplexed received RF signals processed by two or more receive RF chains, an antenna selection method comprising:

establishing possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas for each possible coding rate;

determining a maximum date rate among the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas for each coding rate;

selecting the coding rate with the highest maximum data rate;

determining one or more output bit error rates of the receiver corresponding to combinations of ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas for the selected coding rate;

identifying a minimum of the one or more output bit error rates for the selected coding rate;

selecting one of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and one of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas collectively corresponding to the minimum of the one or more output bit error rates for the selected coding rate; and

connecting the two or more of the transmit RF chains to the selected one of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and the two or more receive RF chains to the selected one of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the one or more output bit error rates are approximated by one or more closed-form expressions.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the one or more closed-form expressions comprise a) y=−tan h(x), b) y=−[(1−e −2√{square root over (x)} )+(1−e −1.8x )], c) y=−[(1−e −1.3√{square root over (x)} )+(1−e −x )], d) y=−(1−e −0.2x ), or e) y=−(1−e −0.35√{square root over (x)} ).

18. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the one or more closed-form expressions are dependent upon coding and/or modulation of the set of spatially-multiplexed RF output signals.

19. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the one or more closed-form expressions comprise a function of one or more output signal to noise ratios or one or more output signal-to-noise-and interference ratios of the receiver.

20. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising:

performing a splitting and weighting operation upon plural baseband input signals utilizing a set of baseband weighting values in order to form a set of baseband signals wherein the set of spatially-multiplexed RF output signals are generated based upon one or more of the set of baseband signals.

21. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising:

downconverting the set of spatially-multiplexed received RF signals in order to form a set of baseband signals, and

performing a baseband weighting and combining operation upon the set of baseband signals utilizing a set of baseband weighting values.

22. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the set of spatially-multiplexed RF output signals comprises at least one of: a code division multiple access signal, a single carrier signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal and a UWB signal.

23. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the plurality of transmit antennas are greater in number than the two or more transmit RF chains and wherein the plurality of receive antennas are greater in number than the two or more receive RF chains.

24. In a communication system including a transmitter having a plurality of transmit antennas disposed to transmit a set of RF output signals through a channel using one or more transmit RF chains and a receiver having a plurality of receive antennas disposed to receive the set of RF output signals and to responsively generate a set of received RF signals processed by one or more receive RF chains, an antenna selection method comprising:

establishing possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas for each possible coding rate;

determining a maximum date rate among the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas for each coding rate;

selecting the coding rate with the highest maximum data rate;

determining one or more output bit error rates of the receiver corresponding to combinations of ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas for the selected coding rate;

identifying a minimum of the one or more output bit error rates for the selected coding rate;

selecting one of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and one of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas collectively corresponding to the minimum of the one or more output bit error rates for the selected coding rate; and

connecting the one or more of the transmit RF chains to the selected one of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and the one or more receive RF chains to the selected one of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas.

25. The method according to claim 24 , further comprising:

performing a splitting and weighting operation upon an input baseband signal utilizing a set of transmit baseband weighting values in order to form a set of baseband signals wherein the plurality of RF output signals are generated based upon one or more of the set of transmit baseband signals.

26. The method according to claim 25 , wherein the set of transmit baseband weighting values are determined based upon precoding or space-time coding techniques.

27. The method according to claim 24 , further comprising:

downconverting the set of received RF signals in order to form a set of baseband signals, and

performing a baseband weighting and combining operation upon the set of baseband signals utilizing a set of receive baseband weighting values.

28. The method according to claim 27 , wherein the set of transmit and receive baseband weights are respectively obtained from a right and left singular vector of a channel matrix corresponding to the one of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and the one of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas.

29. The method according to claim 24 , wherein the one or more output bit error rates are approximated by a closed-form expression.

30. The method according to claim 29 , wherein the closed-form expression is one of a) y=−tan h(x), b) y=−[(1−e −2√{square root over (x)} )+(1−e −1.8x )], c) y=−[(1−e −1.3√{square root over (x)} )+(1−e −x )], d) y=−(1−e −0.2x ), or e) y=−(1−e −0.35√{square root over (x)} ).

31. The method according to claim 29 , wherein the closed-form expression is dependent upon coding and/or modulation of the set of RF output signals.

32. The method according to claim 29 , wherein the closed-form expression comprises a function of an output signal to noise ratio or an output signal-to-noise-and interference ratio of the receiver.

33. The method according to claim 24 , wherein the set of RF output signals comprises at least one of: a code division multiple access signal, a single carrier signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal and a UWB signal.

34. The method according to claim 24 , wherein the plurality of transmit antennas are greater in number than the one or more transmit RF chains and wherein the plurality of receive antennas are greater in number than the one or more receive RF chains.

35. A method for selecting N antenna elements in an M-antenna-element transmitter or an M-antenna-element receiver, in which N is less than M, comprising:

(a) determining a maximum date rate among all possible N antenna element subsets of a set of M-antenna elements of the M-antenna element transmitter or the M-antenna-element receiver for each possible coding rate;

(b) selecting the coding rate with the highest maximum data rate;

(c) determining a bit error rate for each possible N antenna element subset of a set of M-antenna elements of the M-antenna element transmitter or the M-antenna-element receiver for the selected coding rate;

(d) determining the particular N antenna element subset with a lowest bit error rate for the selected coding rate; and

(e) coupling N RF chains of the M-antenna-element transmitter or the M-antenna-element receiver to the particular N antenna element subset with the lowest bit error rate in response to the determination in (d).

36. The method according to claim 35 , wherein (c) comprises approximating the bit error rate using a closed-form mathematical expression.

37. The method according to claim 35 , further comprising:

executing a link adaptation algorithm to determine a most efficient coding mode or modulation mode.

38. The method according to claim 37 , wherein (d) comprises determining the particular N antenna element subset with a lowest bit error rate for a particular coding mode or for a particular modulation mode.

39. A system for selecting N antenna elements in an M-antenna-element transmitter or an M-antenna-element receiver, in which N is less than M, comprising:

M antenna elements in the M-antenna-element transmitter or the M-antenna-element receiver;

N RF chains; and

a switch coupled to the N RF chains,

wherein a maximum date rate for each possible coding rate is determined among all possible N antenna element subsets of a set of M-antenna elements of the M-antenna element transmitter or the M-antenna-element receiver for each coding rate,

wherein a coding rate is selected with the highest maximum data rate;

wherein the M-antenna-element receiver determines a bit error rate for each possible N antenna element subset of the M antenna elements for the selected coding rate,

wherein the M-antenna-element receiver determines the particular N antenna element subset with a lowest bit error rate for the selected coding rate; and

wherein, in response to the determination of the particular N antenna element subset with the lowest bit error rate, the switch couples the N RF chains to the particular N antenna element subset with the lowest bit error rate.