Pilot decontamination under imperfect power control

Abstract

In a time-division duplex (TDD) multiple antenna system the channel state information (CSI) can be estimated using reverse training. In multicell multiuser massive MIMO systems, pilot contamination degrades CSI estimation performance and adversely affects massive MIMO system performance. In this paper we consider a subspace-based semi-blind approach where we have training data as well as information bearing data from various users (both in-cell and neighboring cells) at the base station (BS). Existing subspace approaches assume that the interfering users from neighboring cells are always at distinctly lower power levels at the BS compared to the in-cell users. In this paper we do not make any such assumption. Unlike existing approaches, the BS estimates the channels of all users: in-cell and significant neighboring cell users, i.e., ones with comparable power levels at the BS. We exploit both subspace method using correlation as well as blind source separation using higher-order statistics. The proposed approach is illustrated via simulation examples.