Massive MIMO Techniques for Wireless Communications

Abstract

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems can achieve high data rates due to the large number of antennas at the base station when it serves a small number of users. However, deploying massive MIMO in current cellular networks faces a lot of practical issues such as limited physical space and power consumption. Packing large number of antennas in a limited physical space makes spatial correlation between the base station antennas inevitable. In this thesis, we study the effect of spatial correlation and we investigate the effectiveness of increasing the number of antennas given limited physical space. Hybrid analog and digital MIMO decoding is adopted to exploit the large array gain at a lower cost and power consumption. Also, different antenna-array structures are investigated and compared in terms of power consumption versus performance.This thesis is divided into six chapters as listed below: Chapter 1 Chapter 1 gives an introduction about the wireless communication systems market and the motivation for this work. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 gives a detailed explanation of massive MIMO; its potential and challenges are discussed and investigated.