Linear detectors and precoding methods for massive MIMO

Detection in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication systems is a crucial procedure in receivers since the multiple access transmission schemes generate interference due to the simultaneous transmission along with the several antennas, unlike single-input-single-output (SISO) transmission schemes. Precoding is a technique in MIMO systems used to mitigate the effects of the channel over the received signal. Hence, it is possible to adjust continuously the transmitted information to reverse the effect of the wireless channel at the receiver side. In this work, linear sub-optimal detectors and precoders for massive MIMO (M-MIMO) systems are implemented, analyzed, and compared in terms of performance-complexity trade-off. It is also being considered numerical results in both channel scenarios: a) receiver and transmitter have perfect channel state information (CSI); b) complex channel coefficients are estimated with different levels of inaccuracy. Monte-Carlo simulations (MCS) reveal that linear zero-forcing (ZF) and minimum mean squared error (MMSE) massive MIMO detectors result in a certain robustness against multi-user interference when operating under low and medium system loading, L = K/M, thanks to the favourable propagation phenomenon arising in massive MIMO systems.