Method of systematic construction of space-time constellations, system and method of transmitting space-time constellations

An apparatus comprising:

• a space-time coder including:
• linear transformers adapted to perform a respective linear transformation on each of P sets of K modulated symbols of a modulated symbol stream to produce P sets of T linearly transformed symbols;
• phase rotators adapted to apply a respective phase rotation to each of the P sets of T linearly transformed symbols to produce a respective one of P sets of T phase rotated symbols;
• and a threader adapted to perform a threading operation on the P sets of T phase rotated symbols to produce P threaded sequences that define M output sequences for transmission by M antennas;
• the threading operation being such that each threaded sequence is an allocation of the output sequences over time of a respective one of the P sets of T phase rotated symbols in which all of the output sequences are used by each threaded sequence;
• during each of T symbol periods, a respective one of the P threaded sequences includes a symbol from one of the P sets of T phase rotated symbols;
• and at least one symbol from each of the P sets of T phase rotated symbols is present in each output sequence;
• where M>=2, 2<=P<=M, and T>=M, wherein each linear transformation is the product of a DFT (Discrete Fourier Transform) and a diagonal matrix.

An apparatus comprising:

• a space-time coder including:
• linear transformers adapted to perform a respective linear transformation on each of P sets of K modulated symbols of a modulated symbol stream to produce P sets of T linearly transformed symbols;
• phase rotators adapted to apply a respective phase rotation to each of the P sets of T linearly transformed symbols to produce a respective one of P sets of T phase rotated symbols;
• and a threader adapted to perform a threading operation on the P sets of T phase rotated symbols to produce P threaded sequences that define M output sequences for transmission by M antennas;
• the threading operation being such that each threaded sequence is an allocation of the output sequences over time of a respective one of the P sets of T phase rotated symbols in which all of the output sequences are used by each threaded sequence;
• during each of T symbol periods, a respective one of the P threaded sequences includes a symbol from one of the P sets of T phase rotated symbols;
• and at least one symbol from each of the P sets of T phase rotated symbols is present in each output sequence;
• where M>=2, 2<=P<=M, and T>=M, and wherein the apparatus is used in a collaborative coding scheme in an ad hoc wireless network.

A space-time coder apparatus for use in a wireless communication system, the space-time coder apparatus comprising:

• linear encoders adapted to perform a respective full diversity linear encoding on each of P sets of K modulated symbols to generate P sets of T linearly encoded symbols;
• and
• a threader adapted to assign each one of the P sets of T linearly encoded symbols to a corresponding one of threads of M×T dimensional space-time code for transmission by M antennas, the threads being allocated such that only one of the M antennas is used for transmission at each time interval of a given one of the threads and over time the M antennas are used substantially equally likely, wherein M>=2, 2<=P<=M, and T>=M, and wherein:
• each one of the linear encoding performed on each of the P sets of K modulated symbols is of full diversity and different from one another;
• and
• the M×T dimensional space-time code is of full diversity.

A method of space-time coding for use in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

• performing a respective full diversity linear encoding on each of P sets of K modulated symbols to generate P sets of T linearly encoded symbols;
• and
• performing a threading operation to assign each one of the P sets of T linearly encoded symbols to a corresponding one of threads of M×T dimensional space-time code for transmission by M antennas, the threads being allocated such that only one of the M antennas is used for transmission at each time interval of a given one of the threads and over time the M antennas are used substantially equally likely, wherein M>=2, 2<=P<=M, and T>=M, and wherein:
• each one of the linear encoding performed on each of the P sets of K modulated symbols is of full diversity and different from one another;
• and
• the M×T dimensional space-time code is of full diversity.