Wireless LANs with High Throughput in Interference Limited Environments

In recent years, the data rate in wireless communications systems has increased by more than 2 orders of magnitude. The proliferation of wireless LANs has been an unexpected boom to the wireless industry, both for the equipment manufacturers, and for oper ators, which have created a wide network of ?hotspots? that enable internet surfing and other services for their customers. Future increases in datarates, to levels of several hundred Mbit/s, will be achieved by using multiple-antenna (MIMO) techniques. A standard for such systems is currently being developed as IEEE 802.11n. In order to properly design and deploy such systems, it is essential to understand the multiple-access and mutual interference capabilities of such systems, especially when they ar e operating in real-world propagation channels. The project proposes to investigate the performance of such MIMO systems in the presence of multiple, interfering base stations (access points, APs) and mobile stations (user equipment, UEs). In order to a chieve optimum results, the project will use a consistent, bottom-up investigation, covering measurement of propagation channels, channel estimation, and design of algorithms for mitigating the effects of interference. The close collaboration between the partners enables this approach: by pooling the equipment from two partners, the project will for the first time measure the joint behavior of the propagation channels that govern the behavior of such a system with multiple APs. We will then develop new c hannel estimation techniques and multiuser detection algorithms, and pay special attention to the interplay between the two, with a special focus on iterative channel estimation and multiuser detection. While the project is cutting-edge research that inv olves three of Scandinavia?s leading communications research groups and will lead to completely new results in that field, it is also of highest importance for industry.