Sub-Stream Fairness and Numerical Correctness in MIMO Interference Channels

Stream fairness, fairness between all streams in the system, is a more restrictive condition than sub-stream fairness, fairness between all streams of each user. Thus sub-stream fairness alleviates utility loss as well as complexity and overhead compared to stream fairness. Moreover, depending on algorithmic parameters, conventional algorithms including distributed interference alignment (DIA) may not provide sub-stream fairness, and generate sub-streams with poor signal-to-interference plus noise ratios (SINRs), thus with poor bit error rates (BERs). To this end, we propose a distributed power control algorithm to render sub-stream fairness in the system, and establish initiatory connections between sub-stream SINRs, BERs, and rates. Algorithms have particular responses to parameters. In the paper, important algorithmic parameters are analyzed to exhibit numerical correctness in benchmarking. The distinction between separate filtering schemes that design each stream of a user separately and group filtering schemes that jointly design the streams of a user is also underscored in the paper. Finally, the power control law used in the proposed algorithm is proven to linearly converge to a unique fixed-point, and the algorithm is shown to achieve feasible SINR targets.