Modified conjugate beamforming for cell-free massive MIMO

Abstract

We present a modification of conjugate beamforming for the forward link of cell-free massive MIMO networks. This modification eliminates the self-interference and yields a performance that, without forward pilots, closely approaches what would be achieved with such pilots in place. The simplicity of conjugate beamforming is preserved, with no need for matrix inversions, at the expense of fading-rate coordination among the access points.The work of A. Lozano was supported in part by MINECO/FEDER, UE under Project TEC2015-66228-P, and in part by the European Research Council through H2020 Framework Programme/ERC under Grant 694974