Slow and fast adaptive modulation and coding for uplink massive MIMO systems with packet retransmission

Abstract

Here, the authors consider the uplink of a cellular massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system with maximum ratio combiner (MRC) at base stations (BSs). To achieve a better QoS provisioning, users in the cells employ link adaptation using adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) in conjunction with packet retransmission. The authors present a cross-layer approach for the AMC design exploiting the time variation feature of MIMO wireless channels. At first, a fast AMC (FAMC) scheme is proposed to adapt the fast small-scale fading of the wireless channel based on the instantaneous channel state information. Since the fast fading is asymptotically averaged out due to the channel hardening property of massive MIMO system, we then suggest a slow AMC (SAMC) scheme which adjusts the adaptation parameters based on only the large-scale channel fading statistics including shadow fading and pass loss of the channel. The SAMC substantially reduces the feedback rate and implementation cost because of using a larger coherence time compared to that of the FAMC. For the proposed schemes, the probability density function of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) for MRC receivers at BSs is analytically derived and verified by simulation. Also, closed-form expressions are presented for the throughput and packet error outage of the system. Index Terms—Massive MIMO, MRC, AMC, ARQ, Performance analysis.