Transmitter strategies for closed-loop MIMO-OFDM

This thesis concerns communication across channels with multiple inputs and multiple outputs. Specifically, we consider the closed-loop scenario in which knowledge of the state of the multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) channel is available at the transmitter. We show how this knowledge can be exploited to optimize performance, as measured by the zero-outage capacity, which is the capacity corresponding to zero outage probability. On at-fading channels, a closed-loop transmitter allocates different powers and rates to the multiple channel inputs so as to maximize zero-outage capacity. Frequency-selective fading channels call for a combination of orthogonal-frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and MIMO known as MIMO-OFDM. This exacerbates the allocation problem because it multiplies the number of allocation dimensions by the number of OFDM tones. Fortunately, this thesis demonstrates that simple allocations are sufficient to approach the zero-outage capacity. These simple strategies exploit the tendency for random MIMO channels to behave deterministically as the number of inputs becomes large.