Channel Characterization for Wideband Large-Scale Antenna Systems Based on a Low-Complexity Maximum Likelihood Estimator

Wideband large-scale array systems operating at millimeter-wave bands are expected to play a key role in future communication systems. It is recommended by standardization groups to use spherical-wave models (SWMs) to characterize the channel in near-field cases because of the large array apertures and the small cell size. However, this feature is not widely reflected in channel models yet, mainly due to the high computational complexity of SWMs compared to that of the conventional plane-wave model (PWM), especially when ultrawideband signals are considered. In this paper, a maximum likelihood estimator of low computational complexity is implemented with an SWM for ultrawideband signals. The measurement data obtained from an ultrawideband large-scale antenna array system at 28-30 GHz are processed with the proposed algorithm. The power azimuth-delay profiles estimated from the SWM and the PWM are compared to those obtained from rotational horn antenna measurement, respectively. It shows that the multipath components (MPCs) are well-estimated with the proposed algorithm, and significant improvement in estimation performance is achieved with the SWM compared to the PWM. Moreover, the physical interpretation of the estimated MPCs is also given along with the estimated scatterers.