Beam Discovery Using Linear Block Codes for Millimeter Wave Communication Networks

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel approach to mm-wave channel estimation by framing beam discovery as an error correction problem using linear block codes, enabling efficient and reliable channel estimation with fewer measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a new method that treats beam discovery as an error correction problem, reducing measurement requirements and simplifying transceiver design for mm-wave systems.

Findings

Fewer measurements are needed for reliable channel estimation.

The proposed method is energy-efficient and simple to implement.

It effectively locates strong path reflectors in mm-wave channels.

Abstract

The surge in mobile broadband data demands is expected to surpass the available spectrum capacity below $6$ GHz. This expectation has prompted the exploration of millimeter wave (mm-wave) frequency bands as a candidate technology for next generation wireless networks. However, numerous challenges to deploying mm-wave communication systems, including channel estimation, need to be met before practical deployments are possible. This work addresses the mm-wave channel estimation problem and treats it as a beam discovery problem in which locating beams with strong path reflectors is analogous to locating errors in linear block codes. We show that a significantly small number of measurements (compared to the original dimensions of the channel matrix) is sufficient to reliably estimate the channel. We also show that this can be achieved using a simple and energy-efficient transceiver architecture.