Space--Time Codes from Sum-Rank Codes

Just as rank-metric or Gabidulin codes may be used to construct rate--diversity tradeoff optimal space--time codes, a recently introduced generalization for the sum-rank metric -- linearized Reed--Solomon codes -- accomplishes the same in the case of multiple fading blocks. In this paper, we provide the first explicit construction of minimal delay rate--diversity optimal multiblock space--time codes as an application of linearized Reed--Solomon codes. We also provide sequential decoders for these codes and, more generally, space--time codes constructed from finite field codes. Simulation results show that the proposed codes can outperform full diversity codes based on cyclic division algebras at low SNRs as well as utilize significantly smaller constellations.