Patent ID: 7209522

Claim:
A signal processor for use in a Bell Laboratories Layered Space-Time (BLAST) Multiple-Input Multiple Output (MIMO) receiver defining a receive antennas (MR)>1 element antenna array, comprising: an ordering unit to generate a demodulation ordering based on a relative SNR analysis of an estimated channel matrix, wherein said ordering unit comprises a near-to-far resistance comparison unit that determines a near-to-far resistance for each member of at least a subset of the vectors forming the estimated channel matrix by projecting each member of the subset against an interfering sub-space corresponding to such member; and a successive interference canceller responsive to said ordering unit to estimate a transmitted signal vector on a per estimated component-symbol basis using successive Multi-staged Nested Weiner Filters (MSNWF) estimation and interference cancellation applied to a set of observed components in accordance with the demodulation ordering, each observed component comprising a random superposition of at least a subset of transmit antennas (MT) component-symbols forming the transmitted signal vector, wherein MT is >1 and MT<=MR.