On Mimo Channel Estimation with Single-bit Signal-quantization

The topic of this work is channel estimation for multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems with very coarse signal quantization at the receiver. While coarse quantization of the received signal may only have a small to moderate impact on the channel capacity of MIMO systems, it is, however, necessary for the receiver to know the MIMO channel matrix. This motivates to study possible ways of estimating the channel, having available only the receive signals after quantization, especially fairly coarse ones. Starting from known results, we develop new insights into the behavior of MIMO channel estimators which work with a single-bit quantizer. Besides ultrahigh-speed radio links, the application area includes on-chip and inter-chip bus-system, which employ a single-bit quantizer (logic comparator) at the receiving end of the bus.