Spectral-Efficiency Analysis of Regular- and Large-Scale (Massive) MIMO With a Comprehensive Channel Model

Abstract

This paper provides a generalized analysis for the spectral efficiency of both regular- and large-scale (massive) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, where major radio-propagation characteristics and antenna-array parameters are taken into account, including path loss, shadowing effect, multipath fading, antenna correlation, antenna polarization, environmental cross-polarization coupling, and antenna cross-polarization discrimination. After developing the channel model, where the Weichselberger method is exploited to reformulate the Kronecker model and allow closed-form analysis, an upper bound on the spectral efficiency of the MIMO channel is first established, by using the Hadamard's determinant inequality for positive semidefinite matrices. Then, an asymptotic analysis in high signal-to-noise ratio regime is conducted, which explicitly reveals the effects of the aforementioned parameters on the spectral efficiency. Moreover, the asymptotic behavior of the spectral efficiency in the sense of massive MIMO, i.e., as the number of transmit and/or receive antennas approaches infinity, is investigated. Monte Carlo simulation results corroborate the effectiveness of the analysis and the accuracy of the obtained upper bound on the spectral efficiency. Thanks to its high generality, the analysis developed in this paper benefits system designers in the design and performance evaluation of either regular or massive MIMO systems while accounting for realistic phenomena characterizing both the propagation environment and the antenna arrays.