Downlink Spectral Efficiency Analysis in Distributed Massive MIMO with Phase Noise

To achieve the advantages provided by massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), a large number of antennas need to be deployed at the base station. However, for the reason of cost, inexpensive hardwares are employed in the realistic scenario, which makes the system distorted by hardware impairments. Hence, in this paper, we analyze the downlink spectral efficiency in distributed massive MIMO with phase noise and amplified thermal noise. We provide an effective channel model considering large-scale fading, small-scale fast fading and phase noise. Based on the model, the estimated channel state information (CSI) is obtained during the pilot phase. Under the imperfect CSI, the closed-form expressions of downlink achievable rates with maximum ratio transmission (MRT) and zero-forcing (ZF) precoders in distributed massive MIMO are derived. Furthermore, we also give the user ultimate achievable rates when the number of antennas tends to infinity with both precoders. Based on these expressions, we analyze the impacts of phase noise on the spectral efficiency. It can be concluded that the same limit rate is achieved with both precoders when phase noise is present, and phase noise limits the spectral efficiency. Numerical results show that ZF outdoes MRT precoder in spectral efficiency and ZF precoder is more affected by phase noise.