Performance bounds for space-time block codes with receive antenna selection

In this correspondence, we present a comprehensive performance analysis of orthogonal space-time block codes (STBCs) with receive antenna selection. For a given number of receive antennas M, we assume that the receiver uses the best L of the available M antennas, where, typically, L ≤ M. The selected antennas are those that maximize the instantaneous received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We derive explicit upper bounds on the bit-error rate (BER) performance of the above system for any M and L, and for any number of transmit antennas. We show that the diversity order, with antenna selection, is maintained as that of the full complexity system, whereas the deterioration in SNR is upper-bounded by 10 log₁₀ (M/L) decibels. Furthermore, we derive a tighter upper bound for the BER performance for any N and M when L = 1, and derive an expression for the exact BER performance for the Alamouti scheme when L = 1. We also present simulation results that validate our analysis.