Non-Coherent Multi-User Massive MIMO Receivers with One-Bit Σ-Δ Quantization

Abstract:
It has been shown recently that one-bit Σ-Δ quantization achieves an excellent performance in coherent massive MIMO reception by spatially shaping the quantization noise. In this paper, we extend this concept to non-coherent reception and propose a multi-user massive MIMO receiver which does not require instantaneous but only long-term channelstate information, particularly the angular direction of the users. To this end, several strategies for the implementation of onebit Σ-Δ quantization in the multi-user/multi-direction scenario – including antenna-subset selection as well as secondorder Σ-Δ approaches – are proposed. Moreover, it is presented how the user separation – a prerequisite for noncoherent detection and the related significant reduction of the estimation and synchronization effort – can be realized in the equivalent angular domain. The performance of the proposed multi-user one-bit Σ-Δ design in combination with noncoherent decision-feedback differential detection is assessed by means of numerical simulations.