Performance of combined channel coding and space-time block coding with antenna selection

In this work, we study the performance of a serial concatenated scheme comprising a convolutional code (CC) and a space-time block code (STBC) separated by an interleaver. Specifically, we derive performance bounds for this concatenated scheme, and clearly quantify the impact of using a CC in conjunction with a STBC, and compare that to using a STBC code only. Furthermore, we examine the impact of performing antenna selection at the receiver on the diversity order and coding gain of the system. In performing antenna selection, we adopt a selection criterion that is based on maximizing the instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver. That is, we select a subset of the available receive antennas that maximizes the received SNR. Two channel models are considered in this study: fast fading and quasi-static fading. For both cases, our analyses show that substantial coding gains can be achieved, which is confirmed through Monte-Carlo simulations. In addition, with antenna selection, we demonstrate that the spatial diversity is maintained for all cases, whereas the coding gain deteriorates by no more than 10log(10) (M/L) dB where M is the number of available receive antennas and L is the number of selected antennas.