mmWave massive analog relay MIMO

Abstract

Millimeter-Wave (mmWave) communications are a key technology to realize ultra-high data rate and ultra-low latency wireless communications. Compared with conventional communication systems in the microwave band such as 4G/LTE, mmWave communications employ a higher frequency band which allows a wider bandwidth and is suitable for large capacity communications. It is expected to be applied to various use cases such as mmWave cellular networks and vehicular networks. However, due to the strong diffraction loss and the path loss in the mmWave band, it is difficult or even impossible to achieve high channel capacity for User Equipment (UE) located in Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) environments. To solve the problem, the deployment of relay nodes has been considered. In this paper, we consider the use of massive analog Relay Stations (RSs) to relay the transmission signals. By relaying the signals by a large number of RSs, an artificial Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) propagation environment can be formed, which enables mmWave MIMO communications to the NLOS environment. We describe a theoretical study of a massive relay MIMO system and extend it to include multi-hop relays. Simulations are conducted, and the numerical results show that the proposed system achieves high data rates even in a grid-like urban environment.