  Multiple antennas have been exploited for spatial multiplexing and diversity
transmission in a wide range of communication applications. However, most of
the advances in the design of high speed wireless multiple-input multiple
output (MIMO) systems are based on information-theoretic principles that
demonstrate how to efficiently transmit signals conforming to Gaussian
distribution. Although the Gaussian signal is capacity-achieving, signals
conforming to discrete constellations are transmitted in practical
communication systems. As a result, this paper is motivated to provide a
comprehensive overview on MIMO transmission design with discrete input signals.
We first summarize the existing fundamental results for MIMO systems with
discrete input signals. Then, focusing on the basic point-to-point MIMO
systems, we examine transmission schemes based on three most important criteria
for communication systems: the mutual information driven designs, the mean
square error driven designs, and the diversity driven designs. Particularly, a
unified framework which designs low complexity transmission schemes applicable
to massive MIMO systems in upcoming 5G wireless networks is provided in the
first time. Moreover, adaptive transmission designs which switch among these
criteria based on the channel conditions to formulate the best transmission
strategy are discussed. Then, we provide a survey of the transmission designs
with discrete input signals for multiuser MIMO scenarios, including MIMO uplink
transmission, MIMO downlink transmission, MIMO interference channel, and MIMO
wiretap channel. Additionally, we discuss the transmission designs with
discrete input signals for other systems using MIMO technology. Finally,
technical challenges which remain unresolved at the time of writing are
summarized and the future trends of transmission designs with discrete input
signals are addressed.
