Limiting Doppler Shift Effect on Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems: A Stochastic Geometry Approach

Abstract

Cell-free (CF) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system is currently considered as a promising network architecture to satisfy the anticipated rate requirements of beyond-5G networks. However, in practical scenarios with the presence of high-velocity users, the network experiences an inevitable performance degradation due to the Doppler shift effect. This paper analyzes the potential of frame length optimization in limiting the Doppler shift effect on the performance of time-division duplexing CF massive MIMO under different mobility conditions. In doing so, we derive novel expressions for tight lower bound of the average downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) rates. Capitalizing on the derived analytical results, we provide an analytical framework to determine the optimal frame length that limits the Doppler shift effect on DL and UL rates according to some criterion. Our results show perfect match of both analytical and simulated results under different system settings. Also, we reveal that the optimal frame lengths for maximizing the DL and UL rates are different and depend mainly on the transmission criterion and the users' velocities. Besides, our results demonstrate the high potential of adapting the frame length according to the velocity conditions in limiting the Doppler shift effect compared to applying a fixed frame length.