Machine Learning-based Channel Prediction in Wideband Massive MIMO Systems with Small Overhead for Online Training

Channel prediction compensates for outdated channel state information in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Machine learning (ML) techniques have recently been implemented to design channel predictors by leveraging the temporal correlation of wireless channels. However, most ML-based channel prediction techniques have only considered offline training when generating channel predictors, which can result in poor performance when encountering channel environments different from the ones they were trained on. To ensure prediction performance in varying channel conditions, we propose an online re-training framework that trains the channel predictor from scratch to effectively capture and respond to changes in the wireless environment. The training time includes data collection time and neural network training time, and should be minimized for practical channel predictors. To reduce the training time, especially data collection time, we propose a novel ML-based channel prediction technique called aggregated learning (AL) approach for wideband massive MIMO systems. In the proposed AL approach, the training data can be split and aggregated either in an array domain or frequency domain, which are the channel domains of MIMO-OFDM systems. This processing can significantly reduce the time for data collection. Our numerical results show that the AL approach even improves channel prediction performance in various scenarios with small training time overhead.

Massive MIMO Channel Prediction Via Meta-Learning and Deep Denoising: Is a Small Dataset Enough?

Accurate channel knowledge is critical in massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), which motivates the use of channel prediction. Machine learning techniques for channel prediction hold much promise, but current schemes are limited in their ability to adapt to changes in the environment because they require large training overheads. To accurately predict wireless channels for new environments with reduced training overhead, we propose a fast adaptive channel prediction technique based on a meta-learning algorithm for massive MIMO communications. We exploit the model-agnostic meta-learning (MAML) algorithm to achieve quick adaptation with a small amount of labeled data. Also, to improve the prediction accuracy, we adopt the denoising process for the training data by using deep image prior (DIP). Numerical results show that the proposed MAML-based channel predictor can improve the prediction accuracy with only a few fine-tuning samples. The DIP-based denoising process gives an additional gain in channel prediction, especially in low signal-to-noise ratio regimes.

Massive MIMO Channel Prediction Using Machine Learning: Power of Domain Transformation

To compensate the loss from outdated channel state information in wideband massive multiple-input multipleoutput (MIMO) systems, channel prediction can be performed by leveraging the temporal correlation of wireless channels. Machine learning (ML)-based channel predictors for massive MIMO systems were designed recently; however, the time overhead to collect a large amount of training data directly affects the latency of the system. In this paper, we propose a novel ML-based channel prediction technique, which can reduce the time overhead to collect the training data by transforming the domain of channels from subcarrier to antenna in wideband massive MIMO systems. Numerical results show that the proposed technique can not only reduce the time overhead but also give additional performance gain compared to the ML-based channel prediction techniques without the domain transformation.

Complete Power Reallocation for MU-MIMO under Per-Antenna Power Constraint

This paper proposes a beamforming method under a per-antenna power constraint (PAPC). Although many beamformer designs with the PAPC need to solve complex optimization problems, the proposed complete power reallocation (CPR) method can generate beamformers with excellent performance only with linear operations. CPR is designed to have a simple structure, making it highly flexible and practical. In this paper, three CPR variations considering algorithm convergence speed, sum-rate maximization, and robustness to channel uncertainty are developed. Simulation results verify that CPR and its variations satisfy their design criteria, and, hence, CPR can be readily utilized for various purposes.

Massive MIMO Channel Prediction: Kalman Filtering vs. Machine Learning

This paper focuses on channel prediction techniques for massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Previous channel predictors are based on theoretical channel models, which would be deviated from realistic channels. In this paper, we develop and compare a vector Kalman filter (VKF)-based channel predictor and a machine learning (ML)-based channel predictor using the realistic channels from the spatial channel model (SCM), which has been adopted in the 3GPP standard for years. First, we propose a low-complexity mobility estimator based on the spatial average using a large number of antennas in massive MIMO. The mobility estimate can be used to determine the complexity order of developed predictors. The VKF-based channel predictor developed in this paper exploits the autoregressive (AR) parameters estimated from the SCM channels based on the Yule-Walker equations. Then, the ML-based channel predictor using the linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE)-based noise pre-processed data is developed. Numerical results reveal that both channel predictors have substantial gain over the outdated channel in terms of the channel prediction accuracy and data rate. The ML-based predictor has larger overall computational complexity than the VKF-based predictor, but once trained, the operational complexity of ML-based predictor becomes smaller than that of VKF-based predictor.