Performance Analysis of Multi-Cell Millimeter Wave Massive MIMO Networks with Low-Precision ADCs

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate a multi-cell millimeter wave (mmWave) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) network with low-precision analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) at the base station (BS). Each cell serves multiple users and each user is equipped with multiple antennas but driven by a single RF chain. We first introduce a channel estimation strategy for the mmWave massive MIMO network and analyze the achievable rate with imperfect channel state information. Then, we derive an insightful lower bound for the achievable rate, which becomes tight with a growing number of users. The bound clearly demonstrates the impacts of the number of antennas and the ADC precision, especially for a single-cell mmWave network at low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). It characterizes the tradeoff among various system parameters. Our analytical results are finally confirmed by extensive computer simulations.