This paper discusses the problem of receive antenna subset selection in multiple-input multiple-output spatial multiplexing (MIMO-SM) systems. We develop selection algorithms for maximizing the channel capacity. One algorithm in particular allows tractable statistical analysis of performance. We leverage this to prove that the capacity of the system through receive antenna selection is statistically lower bounded by the capacity of a set of parallel independent single input multiple output (SIMO) channels, each with selection diversity. This provides the crucial step in proving the next main result: The diversity order achievable through antenna selection is the same as that of the full system. The result sets up strong motivation for introducing receive selection in MIMO-SM systems. The remainder of the paper discusses selection algorithms for two popular MIMO-SM systems, namely, ordered successive interference cancellation with independently encoded layers and minimum mean square error (MMSE) receiver with…