Divide And Conquer: One-Bit Mimo-Ofdm Detection By Inexact Expectation Maximization

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems with one-bit analogy-to-digital convertors (ADCs) have great potential in reducing the hardware cost and power consumption. However, distortions caused by coarse quantization raise challenges in symbol detection. In MIMO orthogonal frequency-division modulation (OFDM), coarse quantization renders the orthogonal separation among subcarriers inapplicable, forcing us to deal with a problem that has a very large problem size. In this paper we study the expectation-maximization (EM) approach for one-bit MIMO-OFDM detection. The idea is to iteratively decouple the MIMO-OFDM detection problem among subcarriers. Using the perspective of block coordinate descent (BCD), we describe some inexact variants of the classical EM method for providing more flexible and computationally efficient designs. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the potential of the divide-and-conquer strategy enabled by EM.