Simulation of Alamouti Space-Time Coding in MIMO Systems

This study presents a comprehensive MATLAB simulation of Alamouti space-time coding in multi-antenna (MIMO) systems. The simulation implements the Alamouti encoding scheme where two consecutive symbols are transmitted using orthogonal patterns across two transmit antennas. The Rayleigh fading channel model is incorporated to replicate real-world wireless communication characteristics, including amplitude variations and phase shifts. Key implementation aspects include: - Generation of orthogonal transmission matrix for 2x1 and 2x2 antenna configurations - Maximum likelihood decoding algorithm implementation at the receiver - BER performance evaluation under varying SNR conditions - Channel estimation and equalization techniques for fading compensation Through detailed analysis of simulation results, we gain deeper insights into the performance characteristics of Alamouti coding in MIMO systems, particularly its robustness against channel fading and error rate trends. The simulation demonstrates how space-time coding improves system reliability by exploiting spatial diversity, making it valuable for understanding and applying space-time coding techniques in practical wireless communication systems.