General Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Scheme for mmWave Communication Systems

Utilizing high-resolution antenna arrays and wide bandwidth of the millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum in 5G new radio (NR) mmWave communication systems holds the potential for high-throughput data transmission while enabling user localization and environmental mapping. However, the majority of existing simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms rely on methods akin to the extended Kalman filter for generating initial map features. These methods prove ineffective when the measurement dimension is insufficient. Furthermore, there is a notable absence of research exploring mmWave prototype systems to evaluate and compare the performance and viability of various SLAM algorithms. To address these challenges, we propose an innovative probability hypothesis density (PHD) generation scheme for birth events and have developed a prototype system. Our approach, referred to as PHD-SLAM, exhibits remarkable effectiveness even in scenarios where the measurement dimension falls short of map features. This means it can function seamlessly with only delay or angle information available. Additionally, we have designed a 28GHz mmWave beam scanning prototype system that leverages the 5G NR frame for accomplishing SLAM algorithms. Following this, we conducted extensive simulations and experimental evaluations to gauge the performance of several leading-edge SLAM algorithms under diverse mmWave circumstances, encompassing PHD-based and belief propagation (BP) SLAM algorithms. Our analysis reveals that both PHD and BP SLAM can achieve agent localization precision within a decimeter and mapping precision within a meter, capitalizing on the angle parameters of mmWave signals. While BP SLAM showcases reduced computational demand, its estimation precision is marginally inferior to that of PHD-SLAM.