Error performance of zero-forcing beamforming with signal space diversity over correlated and uncorrelated Rician fading channels

In this manuscript, the error performance evaluation of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) method implementing zero-forcing beamforming (ZFBF) technique along with signal space diversity (SSD) is investigated under Rician fading channels. MIMO systems can be defined as systems created by using multiple antennas on both the transmitter and receiver sides. MIMO systems can enhance spectral efficiency and improve communication reliability. They hold significant importance for current 5G systems and ongoing research of 6G systems. Rician fading channels are commonly encountered in wireless communication systems and include line of sight (LOS) along with non-LOS propagation paths. In this research, examinations are conducted on a t×r MIMO scenario (with t transmitter antennas and r receiver antennas), assuming that the channel is known only at the receiver side. The ZFBF technique is used at the receiver to boost the spectral efficiency, while SSD is utilized to enhance the system reliability. The performance of SSD over Rician fading channels is evaluated and it is observed that there is a noteworthy improvement in the bit error rate performance a gain of up to 5.5 dB is obtained. Even under transmitter antenna correlation, it is shown that this technique can provide an important performance enhancement given by approximately 2 dB gain without any additional computational complexity.