Decoding the Golden Code: a VLSI design

The recently proposed Golden code is an optimal space-time block code for 2 X 2 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The aim of this work is the design of a VLSI decoder for a MIMO system coded with the Golden code. The architecture is based on a rearrangement of the sphere decoding algorithm that achieves maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding performance. Compared to other approaces, the proposed solution exhibits an inherent flexibility in terms of modulation schemes QAM modulation size and this makes our architecture particularly suitable for adaptive modulation schemes.