MIMO is often traced back to 1970s research papers concerning multi-channel digi

tal transmission systems and interference (crosstalk) between wire pairs in a ca

ble bundle: AR Kaye and DA George (1970),[4] Branderburg and Wyner (1974),[5] an
d W. van Etten (1975, 1976).[6] Although these are not examples of exploiting mu
ltipath propagation to send multiple information streams, some of the mathematic
al techniques for dealing with mutual interference proved useful to MIMO develop
ment. In the mid-1980s Jack Salz at Bell Laboratories took this research a step
further, investigating multi-user systems operating over mutually cross-coupled l
inear networks with additive noise sources such as time-division multiplexing and
dually-polarized radio systems.[7]
Methods were developed to improve the performance of cellular radio networks and
enable more aggressive frequency reuse in the early 1990s. Space-division multi
ple access (SDMA) uses directional or smart antennas to communicate on the same
frequency with users in different locations within range of the same base statio
n. An SDMA system was proposed by Richard Roy and Bjrn Ottersten, researchers at
ArrayComm, in 1991. Their US patent (No. 5515378 issued in 1996[8]) describes a
method for increasing capacity using "an array of receiving antennas at the base
station" with a "plurality of remote users." Arogyaswami Paulraj and Thomas Kai
lath proposed an SDMA-based inverse multiplexing technique in 1993. Their US pat
ent (No. 5,345,599 issued in 1994[9]) described a method of broadcasting at high
data rates by splitting a high-rate signal "into several low-rate signals" to b
e transmitted from spatially separated transmitters and recovered by the receive a
ntenna array based on differences in directions-of-arrival. However, neither paten
t contemplated the use of co-located antennas at both ends of a radio link in or
der to exploit multipath propagation.
Invention[edit]
In an April 1996 paper and subsequent patent, Greg Raleigh proposed that natural
multipath propagation can be exploited to transmit multiple, independent inform
ation streams using co-located antennas and multi-dimensional signal processing.
[10] The paper also identified practical solutions for modulation (MIMO-OFDM), c
oding, synchronization, and channel estimation. Later that year (September 1996)
Gerard J. Foschini submitted a paper that also suggested it is possible to mult
iply the capacity of a wireless link using what the author described as layered s
pace-time architecture. [11]
Greg Raleigh, V. K. Jones, and Michael Pollack founded Clarity Wireless in 1996,
and built and field-tested a prototype MIMO system.[12] Cisco Systems acquired
Clarity Wireless in 1998.[13] Bell Labs built a laboratory prototype demonstrati
ng its V-BLAST (Vertical-Bell Laboratories Layered Space-Time) technology in 199
8.[14] Arogyaswami Paulraj founded Iospan Wireless in late 1998 to develop MIMOOFDM products. Iospan was acquired by Intel in 2003.[15] V-BLAST was never comme
rcialized, and neither Clarity Wireless nor Iospan Wireless shipped MIMO-OFDM pr
oducts before being acquired.[16]
Paulraj was awarded the Marconi prize in 2014 for his contributions towards deve
lopment of the MIMO technology.