Approximate analysis on uplink sum rate with MRC receivers in massive MIMO systems

In this paper, we analyze uplink sum rate of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems with maximum-ratio combining (MRC) receivers. To be practical, receive correlation and different powers of users are assumed. Two novel approximate results on sum rate are derived in closed form. Based on the results, we also obtain the asymptotic results on sum rate when the number of base station antenna (M) goes to infinity. Furthermore, the well-known conclusion that the power radiated by each single-antenna user can be made inversely to M with the same performance for the uncorrelated case still holds true even though there exists correlation. Simulation results demonstrate that our proposed results are fairly accurate.