Line-of-Sight Extra-Large MIMO Systems With Angular-Domain Processing: Channel Representation and Transceiver Architecture
Anzheng Tang, Jun-Bo Wang, Yijin Pan, Wence Zhang, Yijian Chen, Hongkang Yu, Rodrigo C. de Lamare
Abstract
With the combination of extra-large arrays and high frequencies, near-field transmissions have become prevalent, challenging the validity of classical channel representations typically derived under the plane wavefront assumption. In this paper, we investigate the angular-domain representation of line-of-sight (LoS) extra-large MIMO (XL-MIMO) channels, considering the impact of spherical wavefront effects. First, we demonstrate the structured sparsity of LoS XL-MIMO channels in the angular domain. Leveraging this sparsity, we propose an effective spatial bandwidth channel representation method, which characterizes near-field LoS XL-MIMO channels as a superposition of multiple plane wave components, enabling us to capture the spherical wavefront effect in a low-dimensional angular channel. Subsequently, we introduce an angular-domain transceiver architecture based on this low-dimensional channel representation. This architecture could significantly facilitate the implementation of LoS XL-MIMO systems. Finally, simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the effective spatial bandwidth identification method and analyze the impact of various array geometries on the effective spatial bandwidth. Additionally, the availability of the angular-domain processing architecture is validated.