Large-Sample Performance of Blind and Group-Blind Multiuser Detectors: A Perturbation Perspective

Abstract

In blind and group-blind multiuser detection, different detectors can be designed using either the sample data covariance matrix directly or its eigencomponents. Due to finite-sample effect in practice, their performance deviates from the corresponding optimum. A perturbation technique is developed rigorously and systematically to analyze those detectors in this work. Subject to the assumption that the first-order perturbation dominates, corresponding results can be applied to a practical system of a given sample size. In particular, performance of the following typical detectors is studied for either flat or estimated multipath channels: direct-matrix-inversion (DMI) blind minimum mean-square error (MMSE) detector, subspace blind MMSE detector, direct zero-forcing (ZF) detector, subspace ZF detector, and group-blind hybrid detector. Simulation examples further verify various analytical results.