Why Does a Kronecker Model Result in Misleading Capacity Estimates?

Many recent works that study the performance of multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems in practice assume a Kronecker model where the variances of the channel entries, upon decomposition on to the transmit and the receive eigen-bases, admit a separable form. Measurement campaigns, however, show that the Kronecker model results in poor estimates for capacity. Motivated by these observations, a channel model that does not impose a separable structure has been recently proposed and shown to fit the capacity of measured channels better. In this work, we show that this recently proposed modeling framework can be viewed as a natural consequence of channel decomposition on to its canonical coordinates, the transmit and/or the receive eigen-bases. Using tools from random matrix theory, we then establish the theoretical basis behind the Kronecker mismatch at the low- and the high-SNR extremes: 1) Sparsity of the dominant statistical degrees of freedom (DoF) in the true channel at the low-SNR extreme, and 2) Non-regularity of the sparsity structure (disparities in the distribution of the DoF across the rows and the columns) at the high-SNR extreme.Comment: 39 pages, 5 figures, under review with IEEE Trans. Inform. Theor

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

Massive MIMO for Internet of Things (IoT) Connectivity

Massive MIMO is considered to be one of the key technologies in the emerging 5G systems, but also a concept applicable to other wireless systems. Exploiting the large number of degrees of freedom (DoFs) of massive MIMO essential for achieving high spectral efficiency, high data rates and extreme spatial multiplexing of densely distributed users. On the one hand, the benefits of applying massive MIMO for broadband communication are well known and there has been a large body of research on designing communication schemes to support high rates. On the other hand, using massive MIMO for Internet-of-Things (IoT) is still a developing topic, as IoT connectivity has requirements and constraints that are significantly different from the broadband connections. In this paper we investigate the applicability of massive MIMO to IoT connectivity. Specifically, we treat the two generic types of IoT connections envisioned in 5G: massive machine-type communication (mMTC) and ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC). This paper fills this important gap by identifying the opportunities and challenges in exploiting massive MIMO for IoT connectivity. We provide insights into the trade-offs that emerge when massive MIMO is applied to mMTC or URLLC and present a number of suitable communication schemes. The discussion continues to the questions of network slicing of the wireless resources and the use of massive MIMO to simultaneously support IoT connections with very heterogeneous requirements. The main conclusion is that massive MIMO can bring benefits to the scenarios with IoT connectivity, but it requires tight integration of the physical-layer techniques with the protocol design.Comment: Submitted for publicatio

Secure Communication for Spatially Sparse Millimeter-Wave Massive MIMO Channels via Hybrid Precoding

In this paper, we investigate secure communication over sparse millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels by exploiting the spatial sparsity of legitimate user's channel. We propose a secure communication scheme in which information data is precoded onto dominant angle components of the sparse channel through a limited number of radio-frequency (RF) chains, while artificial noise (AN) is broadcast over the remaining nondominant angles interfering only with the eavesdropper with a high probability. It is shown that the channel sparsity plays a fundamental role analogous to secret keys in achieving secure communication. Hence, by defining two statistical measures of the channel sparsity, we analytically characterize its impact on secrecy rate. In particular, a substantial improvement on secrecy rate can be obtained by the proposed scheme due to the uncertainty, i.e., 'entropy', introduced by the channel sparsity which is unknown to the eavesdropper. It is revealed that sparsity in the power domain can always contribute to the secrecy rate. In contrast, in the angle domain, there exists an optimal level of sparsity that maximizes the secrecy rate. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme and derived results are verified by numerical simulations

Massive MIMO is a Reality -- What is Next? Five Promising Research Directions for Antenna Arrays

Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) is no longer a "wild" or "promising" concept for future cellular networks - in 2018 it became a reality. Base stations (BSs) with 64 fully digital transceiver chains were commercially deployed in several countries, the key ingredients of Massive MIMO have made it into the 5G standard, the signal processing methods required to achieve unprecedented spectral efficiency have been developed, and the limitation due to pilot contamination has been resolved. Even the development of fully digital Massive MIMO arrays for mmWave frequencies - once viewed prohibitively complicated and costly - is well underway. In a few years, Massive MIMO with fully digital transceivers will be a mainstream feature at both sub-6 GHz and mmWave frequencies. In this paper, we explain how the first chapter of the Massive MIMO research saga has come to an end, while the story has just begun. The coming wide-scale deployment of BSs with massive antenna arrays opens the door to a brand new world where spatial processing capabilities are omnipresent. In addition to mobile broadband services, the antennas can be used for other communication applications, such as low-power machine-type or ultra-reliable communications, as well as non-communication applications such as radar, sensing and positioning. We outline five new Massive MIMO related research directions: Extremely large aperture arrays, Holographic Massive MIMO, Six-dimensional positioning, Large-scale MIMO radar, and Intelligent Massive MIMO.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Digital Signal Processin