This paper is concerned with the signal processing aspects of the recently proposed interleave-division multiple-access (IDMA) scheme. We propose several low-cost detection algorithms to solve the problems of multiple-access, cross-antenna and intersymbol interference (ISI). The complexities (per user) of these algorithms are very low and increase either linearly or quadratically with the number of paths. It is shown that an IDMA system with a rate- 16-state convolutional code and a length-8 spreading sequence can support more than 100 users in a multipath fading channel with two receive antennas. This clearly indicates the great potential of IDMA systems.

This paper investigates a random-interleaver-based approach to space-time coding. The basic principle is to employ a good forward error correction (FEC) code and transmit randomly interleaved codewords over an antenna array. A low-cost estimation technique is considered. The complexity involved grows only linearly with the number of transmit antennas. Near-capacity performance can be achieved with moderate complexity.

This letter examines a very simple iterative chip-by-chip multiuser detection strategy for spread spectrum communication systems. An interleaving-based multiple-access transmission technique is employed to facilitate detection. The proposed scheme can achieve near single-user performance in situations with very large numbers of users while maintaining very low receiver complexity.