An FPGA-based MIMO and space-time processing platform

Faced with the need to develop a research unit capable of up to twelve 20 MHz bandwidth channels of real-time, space-time, and MIMO processing, the authors developed the STAR (space-time array research) platform. Analysis indicated that the possible degree of processing complexity required in the platform was beyond that available from contemporary digital signal processors, and thus a novel approach was required toward the provision of baseband signal processing. This paper follows the analysis and the consequential development of a flexible FPGA-based processing system. It describes the STAR platform and its use through several novel implementations performed with it. Various pitfalls associated with the implementation of MIMO algorithms in real time are highlighted, and finally, the development requirements for this FPGA-based solution are given to aid comparison with traditional DSP development.