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Ray tracing simulation and experimental validation for millimeter-wave massive MIMO systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2025

Jingyun Di Open the ORCID record for Jingyun Di [Opens in a new window] ,
Zhiqiang Yuan ,
Yejian Lyv ,
Rong Tan  and
Wei Fan
Jingyun Di
Affiliation:
Advanced Wireless Technology Laboratory, Huawei Munich Research Center, Munich, Germany
Zhiqiang Yuan
Affiliation:
National Mobile Communications Research Laboratory, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Yejian Lyv
Affiliation:
Terahertz Wireless Communication Laboratory, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
Rong Tan
Affiliation:
Advanced Wireless Technology Laboratory, Huawei Munich Research Center, Munich, Germany
Wei Fan*
Affiliation:
National Mobile Communications Research Laboratory, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
*
Corresponding author: Wei Fan; Email: weifan@seu.edu.cn
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Abstract

Accurate channel characterization is extremely helpful in channel estimation, channel coding, and many other parts of communication system design and can effectively reduce overhead. Ray tracing (RT) shows accurate channel reconstruction for specific maps, but the multipath propagation in indoor scenes is far more complex than in outdoor scenes leading to a challenge for RT. This work presents and validates an RT tool for a massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system in the millimeter-wave frequency bands with the associated channel beamforming algorithm and provides ideas for channel estimation algorithm in subsequent MIMO systems. The impact of the order of interactions, e.g. reflections and diffractions on the channel impulse response reconstruction are analyzed in the RT simulation. The comparison between RT simulated and measured results shows a reasonable level of agreement. The presented RT tool that can provide complete and accurate channel information is of high value for the design of reliable communication systems.

Keywords

beamformingchannel estimationmassive MIMOmillimeter-waveradio channel measurementsray tracing
Type
Research Paper
Information
International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies , First View , pp. 1 - 10
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with The European Microwave Association.

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