VLSI implementation of MIMO detection using the sphere decoding algorithm

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques are a key enabling technology for high-rate wireless communications. This paper discusses two ASIC implementations of MIMO sphere decoders. The first ASIC attains maximum-likelihood performance with an average throughput of 73 Mb/s at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 20 dB; the second ASIC shows only a negligible bit-error-rate degradation and achieves a throughput of 170 Mb/s at the same SNR. The...