Advanced Noncoherent Detection in Massive MIMO Systems via Digital Beamspace Preprocessing

Noncoherent detection in massive multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) uplink systems provides a low-complexity alternative to its coherent counterpart. Requiring no actual channel knowledge but the per-user induced power at the base station, comparable performance as channel-estimation-based detection can be achieved when the users are located in the near-field of the base station. However, noncoherent detection fails in scenarios where users are in the far-field due to an insufficient capability to separate the users in terms of their spatially induced power. For this purpose, a dielectric lens or an analog beamforming structure can be employed, which are capable to focus the power of the incident waves to a smaller subset of the antennas at the base station. These so-called analog beamspace techniques have been demonstrated to enable again the noncoherent detection scheme. Analogous to a spatial Fourier transform, beamspace techniques can be also realized in the digital domain offering more flexibility. Its applicability to noncoherent detection is studied in this paper. It is shown numerically that by means of digital beamspace preprocessing, considerable performance gains can be achieved. Applied in dominant line-of-sight channels, a large number of users can be accommodated and the residual performance gap to coherent detection with perfect channel knowledge is minimal.