Massive MIMO with 1-bit ADC

TL;DR

This paper explores massive MIMO uplink systems using 1-bit ADCs, demonstrating cost-effective design with competitive performance in mutual information and SER through analytical and numerical methods.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical approach to evaluate mutual information and SER in 1-bit ADC massive MIMO systems, reducing simulation complexity.

Findings

Good performance in mutual information and SER

Analytical approach reduces simulation complexity

Effective channel estimation with 1-bit ADCs

Abstract

We investigate massive multiple-input-multiple output (MIMO) uplink systems with 1-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) on each receiver antenna. Receivers that rely on 1-bit ADC do not need energy-consuming interfaces such as automatic gain control (AGC). This decreases both ADC building and operational costs. Our design is based on maximal ratio combining (MRC), zero-forcing (ZF), and least squares (LS) detection, taking into account the effects of the 1-bit ADC on channel estimation. Through numerical results, we show good performance of the system in terms of mutual information and symbol error rate (SER). Furthermore, we provide an analytical approach to calculate the mutual information and SER of the MRC receiver. The analytical approach reduces complexity in the sense that a symbol and channel noise vectors Monte Carlo simulation is avoided.