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Mitigating Pilot Contamination for Channel Estimation in Multi-cell Massive MIMO Systems

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Abstract

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is a crucial technology platform for the fifth-generation of cellular systems (5G). However, massive MIMO systems are affected by pilot contamination, which influences the data rate of the system. This contamination is caused by the non-orthogonality of the pilot sequences transmitted by users in a cell similar to the neighboring cells. The current study proposes a channel-estimation scheme that employs comprehensive knowledge of large-scale gained by applying an orthogonal pilot reuse sequence to eliminate pilot contamination in edge users with reduced channel quality based on the approximation of large-scale fading, and the performance of this scheme is evaluated using the maximum ratio transmission and zero-forcing precoding techniques. Largely interfering users in neighboring cells are established based on an estimation of large-scale fading, and these users are included in the joint channel processing. The channel quality of users is enhanced by allocating orthogonal pilot reuse sequences to the center user and the edge users based on their levels of pilot contamination estimated from the large-scale fading to mitigate this problem when the number of antenna elements M is infinite. The findings of the simulation indicate that improved channel approximation and reduced performance loss could lead to a high data rate.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) (V.1627).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wireless and Radio Science Centre (WARAS), Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400, Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia

    Adeeb Salh, Lukman Audah, Nor Shahida Mohd Shah & Shipun Anuar Hamzah

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  1. Adeeb Salh
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  2. Lukman Audah
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  3. Nor Shahida Mohd Shah
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  4. Shipun Anuar Hamzah
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Correspondence to Lukman Audah.

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Salh, A., Audah, L., Shah, N.S.M. et al. Mitigating Pilot Contamination for Channel Estimation in Multi-cell Massive MIMO Systems. Wireless Pers Commun 112, 1643–1658 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-020-07120-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-020-07120-9

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