Adaptive and Iterative Multi-Branch MMSE Decision Feedback Detection Algorithms for MIMO Systems

In this work, decision feedback (DF) detection algorithms based on multiple processing branches for multi-input multi-output (MIMO) spatial multiplexing systems are proposed. The proposed detector employs multiple cancellation branches with receive filters that are obtained from a common matrix inverse and achieves a performance close to the maximum likelihood detector (MLD). Constrained minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) receive filters designed with constraints on the shape and magnitude of the feedback filters for the multi-branch MMSE DF (MB-MMSE-DF) receivers are presented. An adaptive implementation of the proposed MB-MMSE-DF detector is developed along with a recursive least squares-type algorithm for estimating the parameters of the receive filters when the channel is time-varying. A soft-output version of the MB-MMSE-DF detector is also proposed as a component of an iterative detection and decoding receiver structure. A computational complexity analysis shows that the MB-MMSE-DF detector does not require a significant additional complexity over the conventional MMSE-DF detector, whereas a diversity analysis discusses the diversity order achieved by the MB-MMSE-DF detector. Simulation results show that the MB-MMSE-DF detector achieves a performance superior to existing suboptimal detectors and close to the MLD, while requiring significantly lower complexity.Comment: 10 figures, 3 tables; IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 201

Channel Hardening-Exploiting Message Passing (CHEMP) Receiver in Large-Scale MIMO Systems

In this paper, we propose a MIMO receiver algorithm that exploits {\em channel hardening} that occurs in large MIMO channels. Channel hardening refers to the phenomenon where the off-diagonal terms of the ${\bf H}^H{\bf H}$ matrix become increasingly weaker compared to the diagonal terms as the size of the channel gain matrix ${\bf H}$ increases. Specifically, we propose a message passing detection (MPD) algorithm which works with the real-valued matched filtered received vector (whose signal term becomes ${\bf H}^T{\bf H}{\bf x}$, where ${\bf x}$ is the transmitted vector), and uses a Gaussian approximation on the off-diagonal terms of the ${\bf H}^T{\bf H}$ matrix. We also propose a simple estimation scheme which directly obtains an estimate of ${\bf H}^T{\bf H}$ (instead of an estimate of ${\bf H}$), which is used as an effective channel estimate in the MPD algorithm. We refer to this receiver as the {\em channel hardening-exploiting message passing (CHEMP)} receiver. The proposed CHEMP receiver achieves very good performance in large-scale MIMO systems (e.g., in systems with 16 to 128 uplink users and 128 base station antennas). For the considered large MIMO settings, the complexity of the proposed MPD algorithm is almost the same as or less than that of the minimum mean square error (MMSE) detection. This is because the MPD algorithm does not need a matrix inversion. It also achieves a significantly better performance compared to MMSE and other message passing detection algorithms using MMSE estimate of ${\bf H}$. We also present a convergence analysis of the proposed MPD algorithm. Further, we design optimized irregular low density parity check (LDPC) codes specific to the considered large MIMO channel and the CHEMP receiver through EXIT chart matching. The LDPC codes thus obtained achieve improved coded bit error rate performance compared to off-the-shelf irregular LDPC codes

Efficient DSP and Circuit Architectures for Massive MIMO: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions

Massive MIMO is a compelling wireless access concept that relies on the use of an excess number of base-station antennas, relative to the number of active terminals. This technology is a main component of 5G New Radio (NR) and addresses all important requirements of future wireless standards: a great capacity increase, the support of many simultaneous users, and improvement in energy efficiency. Massive MIMO requires the simultaneous processing of signals from many antenna chains, and computational operations on large matrices. The complexity of the digital processing has been viewed as a fundamental obstacle to the feasibility of Massive MIMO in the past. Recent advances on system-algorithm-hardware co-design have led to extremely energy-efficient implementations. These exploit opportunities in deeply-scaled silicon technologies and perform partly distributed processing to cope with the bottlenecks encountered in the interconnection of many signals. For example, prototype ASIC implementations have demonstrated zero-forcing precoding in real time at a 55 mW power consumption (20 MHz bandwidth, 128 antennas, multiplexing of 8 terminals). Coarse and even error-prone digital processing in the antenna paths permits a reduction of consumption with a factor of 2 to 5. This article summarizes the fundamental technical contributions to efficient digital signal processing for Massive MIMO. The opportunities and constraints on operating on low-complexity RF and analog hardware chains are clarified. It illustrates how terminals can benefit from improved energy efficiency. The status of technology and real-life prototypes discussed. Open challenges and directions for future research are suggested.Comment: submitted to IEEE transactions on signal processin

Adaptive Communication for Wireless Massive MIMO Systems

The demand for high data rates in wireless communications is increasing rapidly. One way to provide reliable communication with increased rates is massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems where a large number of antennas is deployed. We analyze three systems utilizing a large number of antennas to provide enhancement in the performance of wireless communications. First, we consider a general form of spatial modulation (SM) systems where the number of transmitted data streams is allowed to vary and we refer to it as generalized spatial modulation with multiplexing (GSMM). A Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is shown to accurately model the transmitted spatially modulated signal using a precoding framework. Using this transmit model, a general closed-form expression for the achievable rate when operating over Rayleigh fading channels is evaluated along with a tight upper and a lower bounds for the achievable rate. The obtained expressions are flexible enough to accommodate any form of SM by adjusting the precoding set. Followed by that, we study quantized distributed wireless relay networks where a relay consisting of many geographically dispersed nodes is facilitating communication between unconnected users. Due to bandwidth constraints, distributed relay networks perform quantization at the relay nodes, and hence they are referred to as quantized distributed relay networks. In such systems, users transmit their data simultaneously to the relay nodes through the uplink channel that quantize their observed signals independently to a few bits and broadcast these bits to the users through the downlink channel. We develop algorithms that can be employed by the users to estimate the uplink channels between all users and all relay nodes when the relay nodes are performing simple sign quantization. This setup is very useful in either extending coverage to unconnected regions or replacing the existing wireless infrastructure in case of disasters. Using the uplink channel estimates, we propose multiple decoders that can be deployed at the receiver side. We also study the performance of each of these decoders under different system assumptions. A different quantization framework is also proposed for quantized distributed relay networking where the relay nodes perform vector quantization instead of sign quantization. Applying vector quantization at the relay nodes enables us to propose an algorithm that allocates quantization resources efficiently among the relay nodes inside the relay network. We also study the beamforming design at the users’ side in this case where beamforming design is not trivial due to the quantization that occurs at the relay network. Finally, we study a different setup of distributed communication systems called cell-free massive MIMO. In cell-free massive MIMO, regular cellular communication is replaced by multiple access points (APs) that are placed randomly over the coverage area. All users in the coverage area are sharing time and frequency resources and all APs are serving all UEs while power allocation is done in a central processor that is connected to the APs through a high speed backhaul network. We study the power allocation in cell-free massive MIMO system where APs are equipped with few antennas and how the distribution of the available antennas among access points affects both the performance and the infrastructure cost