Adaptive Group Loading and Weighted Loading for MIMO OFDM Systems

Adaptive Bit Loading (ABL) in Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) is often used to achieve the desired Bit Error Rate (BER) performance in wireless systems. In this paper, we discuss some of the bit loading algorithms, compare them in terms of the BER performance, and present an effective and concise Adaptive Grouped Loading (AGL) algorithm. Furthermore, we propose a "weight factor" for loading algorithm to converge rapidly to the final solution for various data rate with variable Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) gaps. In particular, we consider the bit loading in near optimal Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) based MIMO-OFDM system. While using SVD based system, the system requires perfect Channel State Information (CSI) of channel transfer function at the transmitter. This scenario of SVD based system is taken as an ideal case for the comparison of loading algorithms and to show the actual enhancement achievable by our AGL algorithm. Irrespective of the CSI requirement imposed by the mode of the system itself, ABL demands high level of feedback. Grouped Loading (GL) would reduce the feedback requirement depending upon the group size. However, this also leads to considerable degradation in BER performance. In our AGL algorithm, groups are formed with a number of consecutive sub-channels belonging to the same transmit antenna, with individual gains satisfying predefined criteria. Simulation results show that the proposed "weight factor" leads a loading algorithm to rapid convergence for various data rates with variable SNR gap values and AGL requires much lesser CSI compared to GL for the same BER performance.