Analog Beamforming Aided by Full-Dimension One-Bit Chains

TL;DR

This paper proposes a two-stage ML algorithm for analog beamforming in mmWave MIMO systems using 1-bit ADCs, enabling efficient channel estimation and beam alignment with reduced energy consumption.

Contribution

It introduces a novel ML-based approach for analog beamforming aided by full digital chains with 1-bit ADCs, improving channel estimation and beamforming without prior pilot knowledge.

Findings

Effective beamforming in narrowband channels demonstrated.

Robust performance in wideband CDL-C channel model.

Reduced energy consumption with 1-bit ADCs.

Abstract

This paper investigates the design of analog beamforming at the receiver in millimeter-wave (mmWave) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, aided by full digital chains featuring 1-bit ADCs. We advocate utilizing these full digital chains to facilitate rapid channel estimation and beam acquisition for subsequent communication, even without prior knowledge of the training pilots. To balance energy consumption and implementation costs, we opt for 1-bit ADCs. We propose a two-stage maximum likelihood (ML)-based algorithm to estimate angles of arrival (AoAs) and facilitate the design of analog beamforming to maximize the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We validate our proposed beamforming schemes in narrowband coherent channels through synthetic testing and in wideband coherent channels, particularly under the 3GPP clustered-delay-line (CDL)-C channel model.