Method and apparatus for high rank multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) symbol detection

A method of operating an electronic device in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication system, the method comprising:

• receiving a signal over a channel;
• decomposing the channel into a plurality of virtual channels;
• performing symbol detection on each of the plurality of virtual channels;
• obtaining values for the channel;
• and
• performing decoding using the values to output a decoded symbol value for the received signal,
• wherein symbol detection is performed using respective symbol detectors, and
• wherein the channel is a rank-8 channel and the symbol detectors comprise a plurality of rank-4 symbol detectors or a plurality of rank-2 symbol detectors, or
• wherein the channel is a rank-4 channel and the symbol detectors comprise a rank-4 symbol detector and a plurality of rank-2 symbol detectors.

An electronic device, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
• receive a signal over a channel;
• decompose the channel into a plurality of virtual channels, wherein each the plurality of virtual channels has a rank lower than that of the channel, and wherein the rank corresponds to a number of layers used for MIMO transmission;
• perform symbol detection on each of the plurality of virtual channels;
• obtain values for the channel from the symbol detection;
• and
• perform decoding using the values to output a decoded symbol value of the received signal.

An electronic device comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
• receive a signal over a channel;
• decompose the channel into a plurality of virtual channels;
• perform symbol detection on each of the plurality of virtual channels;
• obtain values for the channel;
• and
• perform decoding using the values to output a decoded symbol value of the received signal,
• wherein symbol detection is performed using respective symbol detectors, and
• wherein the channel is a rank-8 channel and the symbol detectors comprise a plurality of rank-4 symbol detectors or a plurality of rank-2 symbol detectors, or
• wherein the channel is a rank-4 channel and the symbol detectors comprise a rank-4 symbol detector and a plurality of rank-2 symbol detectors.

A multiple-input multiple-output symbol detector of an electronic device, the multiple-input multiple-output symbol detector comprising:

• one or more preprocessors configured to decompose a channel, over which a signal is received, into a plurality of virtual channels, wherein each of the plurality of virtual channels has a rank lower than that of the channel, and wherein the rank corresponds to a number of layers used for MIMO transmission;
• a plurality of symbol detectors configured to perform symbol detection on each of the plurality of virtual channels;
• a combiner configured to obtain values for the channel from the symbol detection;
• and
• a decoder configured to decode the values and output a decoded symbol value of the received signal.