On MIMO Relay with Finite-Rate Feedback and Imperfect Channel Estimation

We investigate how finite-rate feedback and imperfect channel estimation impact MIMO relay network throughput and design in this paper. We start from multi-antenna transceiver with random beamforming and formulate the SNR and capacity loss due to channel estimation and quantization errors. We thereafter extend the analysis to multi-antenna relay network with multiple MIMO relay hops and discuss how the end-to-end throughput is scaled by MIMO pilot size, codebook size, relay network size and inter-beam interference. Some tradeoffs for MIMO relay network design are revealed. Computer simulations are provided to demonstrate our results.