A Survey of Massive MIMO Channel Measurements and Models

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5188.2017.01.003

ZTE Communications ›› 2017, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (1): 14-22.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5188.2017.01.003

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A Survey of Massive MIMO Channel Measurements and Models

ZHANG Jianhua, WANG Chao, WU Zhongyuan, ZHANG Weite

Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China

Received:2016-11-09 Online:2017-02-25 Published:2019-12-24
About author:ZHANG Jianhua (jhzhang@bupt.edu.cn) received her Ph.D. degree in circuit and system from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunication (BUPT), China in 2003 and now is a professor of BUPT. She has published more than 100 articles in referred journals and conferences and 40 patents. She was awarded “2008 Best Paper” of Journal of Communication and Network. In 2007 and 2013, she received two national novelty awards for her contribution to the research and development of beyond 3G TDD demo system with 100 Mbps@20 MHz and 1 Gbps@100 MHz respectively. In 2009, she received the Second Prize for Science Novelty from Chinese Communication Standards Association for her contributions to ITU-R 4G (ITU-R M.2135) and 3GPP Relay channel model (3GPP 36.814). From 2012 to 2014, she did the 3D channel modeling work and contributed to 3GPP 36.873. She is also the member of the 3GPP 5G channel model for bands up to 100 GHz. Her current research interests include 5G, artificial intelligence, data mining especially in massive MIMO and millimeter wave channel modeling, channel emulator, and OTA test. She is an IEEE senior member and the drafting group (DG) chairwoman of ITU-R IMT-2020 channel model.|WANG Chao (chaowang@bupt.edu.cn) is working for a Ph.D. degree in the Key Lab of Universal Wireless Communications of Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China. His current research field is massive MIMO channel measurement and modelling.|WU Zhongyuan (pyboon@foxmail.com) received the B.S. degree from China University of Petroleum, China in 2016. He is currently pursuing a M.S. degree from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunication, China. His research interests include massive MIMO channel measurement and modeling, and wireless channel characteristics in 5G system.|ZHANG Weite (zhangweite1994@foxmail.com) is currently a postgraduate student of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), China. He received the B.Sc. degree in communication engineering from Shanghai University, China in 2016. His research interests include propagation models, statistical properties of massive MIMO, and machine learning.
Supported by:
This research is supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China(61322110);This research is supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China(6141101115);in part by National Science and Technology Major Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology(2015ZX03002008);in part by National Key Technology Research and Development Program(2012BAF14B01);by “863” Program(2015AA01A703);by Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education(201300051100013)

Abstract

Abstract:

Compared with conventional multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), massive MIMO system with tens or even hundreds of antennas is able to give better performance in capacity and spectral efficiency, which is a promising technology for 5G. Considering this, massive MIMO has become a hot research topic all over the world. In this paper, the channel measurements and models of massive MIMO in recent years are summarized. Besides, the related 256 antenna elements with 200 MHz bandwidth at 3.5 GHz proposed by our team, the verification of rationality of the measurement method, and the spatial evolution of clusters in mobile scenario are provided.

Key words: massive MIMO, channel measurement, channel model, virtual measurement, cluster

ZHANG Jianhua, WANG Chao, WU Zhongyuan, ZHANG Weite. A Survey of Massive MIMO Channel Measurements and Models[J]. ZTE Communications, 2017, 15(1): 14-22.

Figures/Tables 9

Table 1 Summary of massive MIMO channel measurements proposed in recent two years

Antenna array setup	Scenario	Carrier frequency (GHz)	Channel characteristics	Reference
Tx UPA/Rx ODA 16×16	UMi	3.5 and 2.35	Capacity; eigenvalues	[8]
Tx UPA/Rx ODA 32×56	UMa, O2I	6	Angle spread; delay spread; channel capacity	[40]
Tx UPA/Rx ODA 32×56	O2I	6	Delay spread; angular spread; capacity in different height	[41]
Tx UPA/Rx ODA 32×56	UMa	3.5	The rationality of virtual massive MIMO measurement	[34]
Tx UPA/Rx ODA 32×56	UMa mobility	3.5	Cluster number; cluster-AoA; cluster-AoD; radius of visibility region	[35]
Rx/cylindrical 24×2	O2I, UMi, UMa	2	Capability	[9]
Tx/cylindrical 32×4	indoor	19.85	SNR	[15]
Virtual linear 12×12	lecture hall	5.6	Condition number; delay spread variation	[11]
Tx/virtual circular 24	vehicle to infrastructure	2.6	SIR; power density	[42]
Rx/horn antenna 1	O2I	2.59	Correlation coefficient; SNR	[12]
Rx/2D virtual 12×12	UMa	2.53	Angle delay; angle spread.	[22]
UPA 4×4	indoor	2.4	SNR	[10]
Horizontal 64×1/vertical 1×64	UMa, UMi	2.6	SNR	[43]
Planar 8×8	RMa	5.2	Power; SIR	[44]
Cylindrical	stadium	4.45	PDP of frequency correlation coefficient	[23]
Dipole	similar shopping hall	5.8	Condition number; scalar product	[13]
UCA 64×2	front square	3.33	PDP; PAS	[16]
Virtual 20×20	lecture hall	13-17	Channel gain; K-factor; delay spread; RMS delay spread	[45]
Tx/virtual linear 128×1	hall	2, 4, and 6	PL; PDP	[17]
Tx/ULA 128×8	stadium	1.4725	Channel gains; K-factors; (RMS) composite delay spreads	[7]

Figure 1. Antenna layouts used in our measurement work.

Table 2 The antenna parameters used in our measurement

Parameter		Value
Antenna type		ODA (Rx)	UPA (Tx)
Number of antenna ports		56 (#1-#16 were chosen)	32
Overall radiation pattern		Omnidirectional	Hemispherical
Inter element spacing		41.0 mm	41.0 mm
Number of elements		28	16
Angle range	Azimuth	$- 180 o - 180 o$	$- 70 o - 70 o$
Angle range	Elevation	$- 70 o - 90 o$	$- 70 o - 70 o$
Polarized		$± 45 o$	$± 45 o$
Center frequency		3.5 GHz
Bandwidth		200 MHz
PN sequence		255 chips

Table 2 The antenna parameters used in our measurement

Parameter		Value
Antenna type		ODA (Rx)	UPA (Tx)
Number of antenna ports		56 (#1-#16 were chosen)	32
Overall radiation pattern		Omnidirectional	Hemispherical
Inter element spacing		41.0 mm	41.0 mm
Number of elements		28	16
Angle range	Azimuth	$- 180 o - 180 o$	$- 70 o - 70 o$
Angle range	Elevation	$- 70 o - 90 o$	$- 70 o - 70 o$
Polarized		$± 45 o$	$± 45 o$
Center frequency		3.5 GHz
Bandwidth		200 MHz
PN sequence		255 chips

Figure 2. The overview of the measurement area by Baidu Map (The red triangle is the Tx side; two yellow lines, R1 and R2, represent the measurement route in LoS and non-LoS (NLoS) conditions, respectively; and three red points are in LoS conditions while three blue points are in NLoS conditions).

Figure 3. The scheme of the antenna combining array in the virtual measurement.

Figure 4. The PAS results in the LoS scenario: (a) and (c) represent the results from the practical measurement and (b) and (d) represent the results from the virtual measurement.

Figure 5. The PAS results in the NLoS scenario: (a) and (c) represent the results from the practical measurement and (b) and (d) represent the results from the virtual measurement.

Figure 6. The evolution of clusters along with the measurement route.

Figure 7. The CDFs of radii of VRs in (a) LoS and (b) NLoS conditions.

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A Survey of Massive MIMO Channel Measurements and Models

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