UE antenna properties and their influence on massive MIMO system performance

The use of large-scale antenna arrays can bring substantial improvements both in energy and spectral efficiencies. This paper presents an initial study of user equipment (UE) antenna performance based on prototypes for a massive MIMO test bed. Most publications in the massive MIMO area have assumed isotropic or dipole antenna characteristics at the UE side. It is, however, of greatest interest to evaluate the impact of realistic antenna implementations and user loading on such systems. In this study antennas are integrated into realistic UE form factors. Simulations are carried out to evaluate system performance using the UE antenna characteristics measured in a Satimo StarGate 64. Comparisons are made with ideal isotropic un-correlated antennas. The presented UEs are designed for the 3.7 GHz band used by the LuMaMi massive MIMO test bed at Lund University.