Abstract: An improved multi-antenna receiver is realized for detecting signals transmitted by a multi-antenna transmitter by summing signals received at the plurality of receiver antennas after multiplying each by a respective constant. The summed signal is applied to a maximum likelihood detector. The respective constants, &lgr;j, where j is an index designating a particular receiver antenna, are determined by evaluating the largest eigenvector of the matrix A, where &Lgr; is a vector containing the values &lgr;j, and A is a matrix containing elements &agr;ij, which is the transfer function between the ith transmitter antenna to the jth receiver antenna. The &agr;ij terms are determined in the receiver in conventional ways.