A Coordinated Approach to Channel Estimation in Large-scale Multiple-antenna Systems

This paper addresses the problem of channel estimation in multi-cell interference-limited cellular networks. We consider systems employing multiple antennas and are interested in both the finite and large-scale antenna number regimes (so-called "massive MIMO"). Such systems deal with the multi-cell interference by way of per-cell beamforming applied at each base station. Channel estimation in such networks, which is known to be hampered by the pilot contamination effect, constitute a major bottleneck for overall performance. We present a novel approach which tackles this problem by enabling a low-rate coordination between cells during the channel estimation phase itself. The coordination makes use of the additional second-order statistical information about the user channels, which are shown to offer a powerful way of discriminating across interfering users with even strongly correlated pilot sequences. Importantly, we demonstrate analytically that in the large-number-of-antennas regime, the pilot contamination effect is made to vanish completely under certain conditions on the channel covariance. Gains over the conventional channel estimation framework are confirmed by our simulations for even small antenna array sizes.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, to appear in IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communication

Seeing the Unobservable: Channel Learning for Wireless Communication Networks

Wireless communication networks rely heavily on channel state information (CSI) to make informed decision for signal processing and network operations. However, the traditional CSI acquisition methods is facing many difficulties: pilot-aided channel training consumes a great deal of channel resources and reduces the opportunities for energy saving, while location-aided channel estimation suffers from inaccurate and insufficient location information. In this paper, we propose a novel channel learning framework, which can tackle these difficulties by inferring unobservable CSI from the observable one. We formulate this framework theoretically and illustrate a special case in which the learnability of the unobservable CSI can be guaranteed. Possible applications of channel learning are then described, including cell selection in multi-tier networks, device discovery for device-to-device (D2D) communications, as well as end-to-end user association for load balancing. We also propose a neuron-network-based algorithm for the cell selection problem in multi-tier networks. The performance of this algorithm is evaluated using geometry-based stochastic channel model (GSCM). In settings with 5 small cells, the average cell-selection accuracy is 73% - only a 3.9% loss compared with a location-aided algorithm which requires genuine location information.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted by GlobeCom'1

Recent Advances in Acquiring Channel State Information in Cellular MIMO Systems

In cellular multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) systems the quality of the available channel state information (CSI) has a large impact on the system performance. Specifically, reliable CSI at the transmitter is required to determine the appropriate modulation and coding scheme, transmit power and the precoder vector, while CSI at the receiver is needed to decode the received data symbols. Therefore, cellular MUMIMO systems employ predefined pilot sequences and configure associated time, frequency, code and power resources to facilitate the acquisition of high quality CSI for data transmission and reception. Although the trade-off between the resources used user data transmission has been known for long, the near-optimal configuration of the vailable system resources for pilot and data transmission is a topic of current research efforts. Indeed, since the fifth generation of cellular systems utilizes heterogeneous networks in which base stations are equipped with a large number of transmit and receive antennas, the appropriate configuration of pilot-data resources becomes a critical design aspect. In this article, we review recent advances in system design approaches that are designed for the acquisition of CSI and discuss some of the recent results that help to dimension the pilot and data resources specifically in cellular MU-MIMO systems

Cell-Free Massive MIMO versus Small Cells

A Cell-Free Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) system comprises a very large number of distributed access points (APs)which simultaneously serve a much smaller number of users over the same time/frequency resources based on directly measured channel characteristics. The APs and users have only one antenna each. The APs acquire channel state information through time-division duplex operation and the reception of uplink pilot signals transmitted by the users. The APs perform multiplexing/de-multiplexing through conjugate beamforming on the downlink and matched filtering on the uplink. Closed-form expressions for individual user uplink and downlink throughputs lead to max-min power control algorithms. Max-min power control ensures uniformly good service throughout the area of coverage. A pilot assignment algorithm helps to mitigate the effects of pilot contamination, but power control is far more important in that regard. Cell-Free Massive MIMO has considerably improved performance with respect to a conventional small-cell scheme, whereby each user is served by a dedicated AP, in terms of both 95%-likely per-user throughput and immunity to shadow fading spatial correlation. Under uncorrelated shadow fading conditions, the cell-free scheme provides nearly 5-fold improvement in 95%-likely per-user throughput over the small-cell scheme, and 10-fold improvement when shadow fading is correlated.Comment: EEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, accepted for publicatio

Location-aware channel estimation enhanced TDD based massive MIMO

Pilot contamination (PC) is a stumbling block in of realizing massive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems. This contribution proposes a location-aware channel estimation-enhanced massive MIMO system employing time-division duplexing protocol, which is capable of significantly reducing the inter-cell interference caused by PC and, therefore, improving the achievable system performance. Specifically, we present a novel location-aware channel estimation algorithm, which utilizes the property of the steering vector to carry out a fast Fourier transform-based post-processing after the conventional pilot-aided channel estimation for mitigating PC. Our asymptotic analysis proves that this post-processing is capable of removing PC from the interfering users with different angle-of-arrivals (AOAs). Since in practice the AOAs of some users may be similar, we further present a location-aware pilot assignment method to ensure that users utilizing the same pilot have distinguishable AOAs, in order to fully benefit from the location-aware channel estimation. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can dramatically reduce the inter-cell interference caused by the re-use of the pilot sequence and improve the overall system performance significantly, while only imposing a modest extra computational cost, in comparison with the conventional pilot-aided channel estimation

Downlink Massive MIMO Systems: Reduction of Pilot Contamination for Channel Estimation with Perfect Knowledge of Large-Scale Fading

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology is considered crucial for the development of future fifth-generation (5G) systems. However, a limitation of massive MIMO systems arises from the lack of orthogonality in the pilot sequences transmitted by users from a single cell to neighboring cells. To address this constraint, a proposed solution involves utilizing orthogonal pilot reuse sequences (PRS) and zero forced (ZF) pre-coding techniques. The primary objective of these techniques is to eradicate channel interference and improve the experience of end users who are afflicted by low-quality channels. The assessment of the channel involves evaluating its quality through channel assessment, conducting comprehensive evaluations of large-scale shutdowns, and analyzing the maximum transmission efficiency. By assigning PRS to a group of users, the proposed approach establishes lower bounds for the achievable downlink data rate (DR) and signal-to-interference noise ratio (SINR). These bounds are derived by considering the number of antennas approaches infinity which helps mitigate interference. Simulation results demonstrate that the utilization of improved channel evaluation and reduced loss leads to higher DR. When comparing different precoding techniques, the ZF method outperforms maximum ratio transmission (MRT) precoders in achieving a higher DR, particularly when the number of cells reaches . &nbsp

Downlink Massive MIMO Systems: Reduction of Pilot Contamination for Channel Estimation with Perfect Knowledge of Large-Scale Fading

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology is considered crucial for the development of future fifth-generation (5G) systems. However, a limitation of massive MIMO systems arises from the lack of orthogonality in the pilot sequences transmitted by users from a single cell to neighboring cells. To address this constraint, a proposed solution involves utilizing orthogonal pilot reuse sequences (PRS) and zero forced (ZF) pre-coding techniques. The primary objective of these techniques is to eradicate channel interference and improve the experience of end users who are afflicted by low-quality channels. The assessment of the channel involves evaluating its quality through channel assessment, conducting comprehensive evaluations of large-scale shutdowns, and analyzing the maximum transmission efficiency. By assigning PRS to a group of users, the proposed approach establishes lower bounds for the achievable downlink data rate (DR) and signal-to-interference noise ratio (SINR). These bounds are derived by considering the number of antennas approaches infinity which helps mitigate interference. Simulation results demonstrate that the utilization of improved channel evaluation and reduced loss leads to higher DR. When comparing different precoding techniques, the ZF method outperforms maximum ratio transmission (MRT) precoders in achieving a higher DR, particularly when the number of cells reaches . &nbsp

AoA-Based Pilot Assignment in Massive MIMO Systems Using Deep Reinforcement Learning

In this paper, the problem of pilot contamination in a multi-cell massive multiple input multiple output (M-MIMO) system is addressed using deep reinforcement learning (DRL). To this end, a pilot assignment strategy is designed that adapts to the channel variations while maintaining a tolerable pilot contamination effect. Using the angle of arrival (AoA) information of the users, a cost function, portraying the reward, is presented, defining the pilot contamination effects in the system. Numerical results illustrate that the DRL-based scheme is able to track the changes in the environment, learn the near-optimal pilot assignment, and achieve a close performance to that of the optimum pilot assignment performed by exhaustive search, while maintaining a low computational complexity