A Generalized Framework on Beamformer Design and CSI Acquisition for Single-Carrier Massive MIMO Systems in Millimeter Wave Channels

In this paper, we establish a general framework on the reduced dimensional channel state information (CSI) estimation and pre-beamformer design for frequency-selective massive multiple-input multiple-output MIMO systems employing single-carrier (SC) modulation in time division duplex (TDD) mode by exploiting the joint angle-delay domain channel sparsity in millimeter (mm) wave frequencies. First, based on a generic subspace projection taking the joint angle-delay power profile and user-grouping into account, the reduced rank minimum mean square error (RR-MMSE) instantaneous CSI estimator is derived for spatially correlated wideband MIMO channels. Second, the statistical pre-beamformer design is considered for frequency-selective SC massive MIMO channels. We examine the dimension reduction problem and subspace (beamspace) construction on which the RR-MMSE estimation can be realized as accurately as possible. Finally, a spatio-temporal domain correlator type reduced rank channel estimator, as an approximation of the RR-MMSE estimate, is obtained by carrying out least square (LS) estimation in a proper reduced dimensional beamspace. It is observed that the proposed techniques show remarkable robustness to the pilot interference (or contamination) with a significant reduction in pilot overhead

Receive Spatial Modulation for Massive MIMO Systems

In this paper, we consider the downlink of a massive multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) single user transmission system operating in the millimeter wave outdoor narrowband channel environment. We propose a novel receive spatial modulation architecture aimed to reduce the power consumption at the user terminal, while attaining a significant throughput. The energy consumption reduction is obtained through the use of analog devices (amplitude detector), which reduces the number of radio frequency chains and analog-to-digital-converters (ADCs). The base station transmits spatial and modulation symbols per channel use. We show that the optimal spatial symbol detector is a threshold detector that can be implemented by using one bit ADC. We derive closed form expressions for the detection threshold at different signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) regions showing that a simple threshold can be obtained at high SNR and its performance approaches the exact threshold. We derive expressions for the average bit error probability in the presence and absence of the threshold estimation error showing that a small number of pilot symbols is needed. A performance comparison is done between the proposed system and fully digital MIMO showing that a suitable constellation selection can reduce the performance gap

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for Wireless Communications: Principles, Challenges, and Opportunities

Recently there has been a flurry of research on the use of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) in wireless networks to create smart radio environments. In a smart radio environment, surfaces are capable of manipulating the propagation of incident electromagnetic waves in a programmable manner to actively alter the channel realization, which turns the wireless channel into a controllable system block that can be optimized to improve overall system performance. In this article, we provide a tutorial overview of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) for wireless communications. We describe the working principles of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) and elaborate on different candidate implementations using metasurfaces and reflectarrays. We discuss the channel models suitable for both implementations and examine the feasibility of obtaining accurate channel estimates. Furthermore, we discuss the aspects that differentiate RIS optimization from precoding for traditional MIMO arrays highlighting both the arising challenges and the potential opportunities associated with this emerging technology. Finally, we present numerical results to illustrate the power of an RIS in shaping the key properties of a MIMO channel.Comment: to appear in the IEEE Transactions on Cognitive Communications and Networking (TCCN

Beamspace Aware Adaptive Channel Estimation for Single-Carrier Time-varying Massive MIMO Channels

In this paper, the problem of sequential beam construction and adaptive channel estimation based on reduced rank (RR) Kalman filtering for frequency-selective massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems employing single-carrier (SC) in time division duplex (TDD) mode are considered. In two-stage beamforming, a new algorithm for statistical pre-beamformer design is proposed for spatially correlated time-varying wideband MIMO channels under the assumption that the channel is a stationary Gauss-Markov random process. The proposed algorithm yields a nearly optimal pre-beamformer whose beam pattern is designed sequentially with low complexity by taking the user-grouping into account, and exploiting the properties of Kalman filtering and associated prediction error covariance matrices. The resulting design, based on the second order statistical properties of the channel, generates beamspace on which the RR Kalman estimator can be realized as accurately as possible. It is observed that the adaptive channel estimation technique together with the proposed sequential beamspace construction shows remarkable robustness to the pilot interference. This comes with significant reduction in both pilot overhead and dimension of the pre-beamformer lowering both hardware complexity and power consumption.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted by IEEE ICC 2017 Wireless Communications Symposiu