Performance comparison of massive MIMO and conventional MIMO using channel parameters

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology is becoming mature in wireless communication systems. It has led to third and fourth generation wireless systems, which has been providing good range, reliability and higher data rates. For the increased demand of much higher data rates, coverage, spectral efficiency, capacity and reduced latency, the evolution of the next generation i.e., the fifth generation technology is necessary. Massive MIMO technology is one of the most promising solution for the above-mentioned challenge. In massive MIMO, the base station is incorporated with hundreds to thousands of antenna array wherein the degrees of freedom can be exploited and the energy can be efficiently used due to the fact that the extra antennas at the base station helps focus the energy into the smaller regions of space. To reap the benefits provided by the extra antennas, the channel information is necessary which makes it possible to have a reliable communication. Therefore, to acquire the channel knowledge, channel state information is required at the base station and estimating the channel parameters plays an important role. In this paper, we concentrate on estimating the channel parameters for conventional MIMO and massive MIMO based on training-based and blind channel estimation techniques wherein the performance of both is compared.