On the Fine Resolution of Antenna Topologies

Abstract

The emergence of massive multiple-input-multiple-output, ray-based channel models and millimeter wave systems makes it timely to take a new look at the resolution of different antenna topologies. Hence, we derive a novel approach to evaluate the fine resolution of large antenna arrays. The approach is general, tractable for arbitrary layouts and is based on a bivariate Taylor series expansion of the normalized interference between two closely separated rays. The technique is applied to several topologies in both space-constrained and unconstrained scenarios. The resulting expressions and corresponding results give insight into the relative ability of the arrays to resolve rays and provide a simple performance hierarchy for typical scenarios.