MATLAB Implementation of a 2x2 MIMO System with V-BLAST Encoding and ZF Receiver

This documentation discusses the implementation of a 2x2 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) system in MATLAB. The transmitter employs the Vertical Bell Laboratories Layered Space-Time (V-BLAST) encoding scheme to achieve spatial multiplexing gains. The communication channel is modeled as Rayleigh fading with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) to simulate realistic wireless propagation conditions. At the receiver side, a zero-forcing (ZF) detection algorithm is implemented to efficiently separate and decode the transmitted streams. Key implementation aspects include: - Generation of independent data streams for each transmit antenna - V-BLAST encoding through proper symbol mapping and layer organization - Rayleigh channel modeling using complex Gaussian random variables - AWGN addition with calculated signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) - ZF receiver implementation using matrix pseudo-inverse computation - Performance evaluation through bit error rate (BER) versus SNR curves These techniques significantly enhance wireless communication performance by improving spectral efficiency and link reliability, making them fundamental to modern 4G/5G systems. The MATLAB code provides a complete simulation framework for analyzing MIMO system behavior under different channel conditions.