Power amplifier linearization technique with IQ imbalance and crosstalk compensation for broadband MIMO-OFDM transmitters

The design of predistortion techniques for broadband multiple input multiple output-OFDM (MIMO-OFDM) systems raises several implementation challenges. First, the large bandwidth of the OFDM signal requires the introduction of memory effects in the PD model. In addition, it is usual to consider an imbalanced in-phase and quadrature (IQ) modulator to translate the predistorted baseband signal to RF. Furthermore, the coupling effects, which occur when the MIMO paths are implemented in the same reduced size chipset, cannot be avoided in MIMO transceivers structures. This study proposes a MIMO-PD system that linearizes the power amplifier response and compensates nonlinear crosstalk and IQ imbalance effects for each branch of the multiantenna system. Efficient recursive algorithms are presented to estimate the complete MIMO-PD coefficients. The algorithms avoid the high computational complexity in previous solutions based on least squares estimation. The performance of the proposed MIMO-PD structure is validated by simulations using a two-transmitter antenna MIMO system. Error vector magnitude and adjacent channel power ratio are evaluated showing significant improvement compared with conventional MIMO-PD systems.