Downlink Transmission And Channel Estimation For Cell-Free Massive MIMO-OFDM With Symbol Time Offset

Abstract In a cell-free massive MIMO system, multiple users arrive at multiple access points at separate times, while in an OFDM system, different delays can be equivalent to symbol timing offsets (STOs). Since symbol timing offsets are not all the same, in the downlink transmission process, it is necessary to consider its impact on transmission techniques, such as channel estimation and downlink precoding. In this paper, aiming at the performance loss caused by STO in cell-free massive MIMO-OFDM system, we propose a multi-RB precoding optimization algorithm that maximizes the downlink sum rate. We derive the sum rate maximization problem into an iterative second-order cone programming (SOCP) form to achieve convex approximation. Then, considering the impact of STO on the accuracy of cell-free massive MIMO-OFDM channel estimation, we propose a downlink channel estimation method, which jointly uses channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) and demodulation reference signal (DMRS). Simulation results show that the proposed multi-RB optimal precoding can effectively improve the downlink sum rate, and the proposed downlink channel estimation can obtain accurate multi-RB frequency domain channel parameters.