Space-Constrained Massive MIMO: Hitting the Wall of Favorable Propagation
Journal article, 2015

The recent development of the massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) paradigm, has been extensively based on the pursuit of favorable propagation: in the asymptotic limit, the channel vectors become nearly orthogonal and inter-user interference tends to zero [1]. In this context, previous studies have considered fixed inter-antenna distance, which implies an increasing array aperture as the number of elements increases. Here, we focus on a practical, space-constrained topology, where an increase in the number of antenna elements in a fixed total space imposes an inversely proportional decrease in the inter-antenna distance. Our analysis shows that, contrary to existing studies, inter-user interference does not vanish in the massive MIMO regime, thereby creating a saturation effect on the achievable rate.

Antenna arrays

massive MIMO

favorable propagation

Author

C. Masouros

University College London (UCL)

Michail Matthaiou

Chalmers, Signals and Systems, Signal Processing and Biomedical Engineering

IEEE Communications Letters

1089-7798 (ISSN) 15582558 (eISSN)

Vol. 19 5 771-774 7056424

Subject Categories

Signal Processing

DOI

10.1109/LCOMM.2015.2409832

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Latest update

4/5/2022 6