Evaluating Massive MIMO Precoding based on 3D-Channel Measurements with a Spider Antenna

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel 3D spatial measurement system using a spider antenna to improve the understanding of massive MIMO channel characteristics, aiding in better precoding and user clustering strategies.

Contribution

It presents a new high-resolution 3D measurement prototype for massive MIMO channels, enabling detailed analysis of spatial correlations and their impact on system performance.

Findings

Enhanced understanding of user orthogonality and clustering in 3D space.

Insights into how antenna geometry affects achievable rates.

Validation of the measurement system through indoor experiments.

Abstract

Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO)communications uses a large number of antennas at the base station to increase the data rate and user density in future wireless systems. For simulation, it has become common practice to use i.i.d. complex Gaussian matrix entries to obtain an average MIMO channel behavior. More refined models have been devised and proposed to standardization bodies; yet, channel modeling remains an active area of research, as current models tend to be, still, quite limited, e.g., when it comes to evaluating clustering algorithms, with regions of spatial orthogonality for concurrent scheduling of users, which is an essential concept in massive MIMO precoding. For this, spatial correlations need to be included. To further refine channel modeling, we have built a "spider antenna" prototype that allows spatially continuous measurements in three dimensions, enabling a high-resolution sampling over, initially, a volume of 2m x 2m x 2m for indoor measurements. Several experiments have been conducted to illustrate the new insights to be gained when studying user orthogonality, clustering and precoding in a massive MIMO context. Furthermore, the influence of antenna array geometry and user spacing on the achievable rate over actually measured channels is studied.