Space-Constrained Massive MIMO: Hitting the Wall of Favorable Propagation
- 9 March 2015
- journal article
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in IEEE Communications Letters
- Vol. 19 (5), 771-774
- https://doi.org/10.1109/lcomm.2015.2409832
Abstract
The recent development of the massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) paradigm, has been extensively based on the pursuit of favorable propagation: in the asymptotic limit, the channel vectors become nearly orthogonal and inter-user interference tends to zero [1]. In this context, previous studies have considered fixed inter-antenna distance, which implies an increasing array aperture as the number of elements increases. Here, we focus on a practical, space-constrained topology, where an increase in the number of antenna elements in a fixed total space imposes an inversely proportional decrease in the inter-antenna distance. Our analysis shows that, contrary to existing studies, inter-user interference does not vanish in the massive MIMO regime, thereby creating a saturation effect on the achievable rate.Keywords
Funding Information
- Royal Academy of Engineering, UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (EP/M014150/1)
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