Performance Analysis of Near-Field Sensing in Wideband MIMO Systems

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the performance limits of near-field sensing in wideband MIMO systems, deriving bounds and revealing how array size, bandwidth, and array geometry influence estimation accuracy.

Contribution

It provides analytical CRB expressions for ULAs and UCAs, and uncovers key factors affecting NISE performance in wideband MIMO systems.

Findings

MLE errors approach CRBs at high SNR

Array size does not always improve performance

Bandwidth limits estimation accuracy at large distances

Abstract

The performance of near-field sensing (NISE) in a legacy wideband multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system is analyzed. The maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) for the target's distance and angle relative to the antenna array are derived. To evaluate the estimation error, closed-form analytical expressions of Cramer-Rao bounds (CRBs) are derived for both uniform linear arrays (ULAs) and uniform circular arrays (UCAs). The asymptotic CRBs are then analyzed to reveal the scaling laws of CRBs with respect to key system parameters, including array size, bandwidth, and target distance. Our results reveal that 1) the mean-squared error achieved by MLEs approaches CRBs in the high signal-to-noise ratio regime; 2) a larger array aperture does not necessarily improve NISE performance, especially with ultra-large bandwidth; 3) large bandwidth sets an estimation error ceiling for NISE as target distance increases; 4) array aperture and bandwidth, rather than the number of antennas and subcarriers, are the key factors affecting wideband NISE performance; and 5) UCAs offer superior, angle-independent wideband NISE performance compared to ULAs with the same aperture.