Faster-Than-Nyquist Signaling Through Spatio-Temporal Symbol-Level Precoding for the Multiuser MISO Downlink Channel

This paper deals with the problem of the interference between multiple co-channel transmissions in the downlink of a multi-antenna wireless system. In this framework, symbol-level precoding (SLP) is a promising technique which is able to constructively exploit the multi-user interference and to transform it into useful power at the receiver side. While previous works on SLP were focused on exploiting the multi-user interference, in this paper, we extend this concept by jointly handling the interference both in the spatial dimension (multi-user interference) and in the temporal dimension (inter-symbol interference). Accordingly, we propose a novel precoding method, referred to as spatio-temporal SLP. In this new precoding paradigm, faster-than-Nyquist (FTN) signaling can be applied over multi-user MISO systems, and the inter-symbol interference can be tackled at the transmitter side, without additional complexity for the user terminals. While applying FTN signaling, the proposed optimization strategies perform a sum power minimization with quality-of-service constraints. Numerical results are presented in a comparative fashion to show the effectiveness of the proposed techniques, which outperform the state-of-the-art SLP schemes in terms of symbol error rate, effective rate, and energy efficiency.