Introduction to the Issue on Hybrid Analog–Digital Signal Processing for Hardware-Efficient Large-Scale Antenna Arrays (Part I)

The papers in this special section focus on hybrid analog-digital signal processing for hardware efficient large scale antenna arrays. Hybrid analog-digital (HAD) processing provides a key technology for the coming generations of wireless networks, as a means of obtaining hardware-efficient transceivers. The principle behind HAD is that the transceiver processing is divided into the analog and digital domain, where networks of analog components implement large-dimensional processing at the transceiver front end, allowing for a low-dimensional digital processing which necessitates only a few RF chains. This technology has recently been brought at the forefront of research motivated by the proliferation of millimeter-wave (mmWave) communications, as a solution to circumvent the use of large numbers of expensive mmWave RF components. Its scope however is not limited solely tommWave, as hardwareefficient transmission is key for small cell deployments in the microwave frequencies and also in emerging applications such as the internet of things (IoT) involving massive connectivity. All these applications still rely on transceivers capable of beamforming, using cheap, low-power, and physically small devices. Accordingly, the aim of this Special Issue (SI) has been to gather the relevant contributions focusing on the practical challenges of hybrid analog-digital transmission.