Wireless communications for frequency-selective fading channels is realized
by employing a system including orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)
in combination with an at least two antenna transmit diversity arrangement. Specifically,
OFDM converts a multipath channel into a plurality of narrowband subchannels each
having flat fading. Then, the signals on the same frequency subchannels of the
at least two antennas are grouped together. Considering a first frequency subchannel,
during a first OFDM time interval, a first signal and a second signal are transmitted
on the first frequency subchannel from a first antenna (0) and from a second
antenna (1), respectively. During a second OFDM time interval, a reverse
sign (-) complex conjugate of the second signal and a complex conjugate of the
first signal are transmitted from the first antenna and the second antenna, respectively.
In a specific embodiment of the invention, reduced complexity in the implementation
is realized by a reverse order complex conjugate and a reverse order, reverse sign
(-) complex conjugate and judicious selection of the processed data signals in
order to transmit the appropriate ones of the signals during the first and second
OFDM intervals. Again, if the channel remains constant over the two OFDM intervals,
diversity combination is realized for each frequency subchannel. In another embodiment
of the invention, antenna-group hopping is employed in conjunction with pairing
in time of the OFDM frequency subchannel signals to realize increased transmit
diversity without rate loss.