Massive MIMO for Next-Gen Wireless Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Massive MIMO is often regarded as one of the most transformative technologies for 5G and is anticipated to play a vital role in 6G and future generations of wireless systems. Massive MIMO offers significant opportunities for enhancing spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, reliability, and coverage by leveraging large antenna arrays. However, to harness the capabilities of Massive MIMO, various challenges related to antenna design, channel modeling, signal processing, hardware realization, and interfaces with networks need to be considered. In addition, concepts such as cell-free and holographic MIMO, metasurface-enabled antennas, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, and AI-driven optimization are opening the door to achieving greater scalability, efficiency, and intelligence in wireless systems.

This Special Issue, “Massive MIMO for Next-Gen Wireless Systems”, aims to provide researchers with an opportunity to present state-of-the-art advancements in theories, algorithms, experiments, and system-level design, with emphasis placed on works that integrate communication theory, intelligent system design, and electromagnetics. With its combination of foundational and applied studies, we hope that it will serve as a valuable contribution to the literature and a guide for further research.

This Special Issue calls for studies on recent advances in Massive MIMO technologies that cover the signal processing, system-level analysis and design, and implementation of Massive MIMO. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Design of compact and wideband arrays;
• Conformal and flexible arrays;
• Metasurface and holographic MIMO antennas;
• RIS-assisted MIMO architecture;
• Programmable-metasurface MIMO arrays;
• Near-field beam focusing;
• New channel models and measurement campaigns;
• Low-RCS and low-profile Massive MIMO arrays;
• Hybrid beam forming;
• AI/ML-assisted precoding and channel estimation;
• Mutual coupling;
• Cell-free and distributed Massive MIMO;
• Hardware challenges and fabrication techniques;

• Beam tracking for moving targets;
• Millimeter wave;
• Full digital-signal processing;
• Energy efficiency and wireless power transfer;
• Localization and direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation;
• Compressed sensing;
• Pilot decontamination and channel estimation;
• Machine learning approach for pre/post coding;
• Implementation and calibration;
• Proofs of concept (PoCs) and trials.

We invite researchers to submit original research work, review papers, and other communications to this Special Issue, and look forward to receiving their submissions.

Dr. Manzoor Elahi
Dr. Amir Altaf
Guest Editors

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