Energy detection using very large antenna array receivers

We propose the use of energy detection for single stream transmission and reception by a very large number of antennas, with primary application to millimeter wave communications. The reason for applying energy detection is low complexity, cost and power efficiency. While both energy detection and millimeter wave communications are limited to short ranges due respectively to noise sensitivity and propagation attenuation, processing by a large number of receive antennas overcomes those shortcomings to provide significant reach extension. This processing is solely based on long-term statistics of the channel and noise, making it robust to user mobility and imperfect channel knowledge.