Exploitation of Triangular Lattice Arrays for Improved Spectral Efficiency in Massive MIMO 5G Systems

A thorough analysis of the performance of planar arrays with a regular periodic lattice is carried out and applied to massive multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems operating within 5G NR n257 and n258 frequency band. It is shown that, among different arrangements with uniform spacing, a triangular lattice guarantees the reduction of the Average Side Lobe Level (ASLL), a better angular scan resolution of the main beam within a predefined angular sector and a lower mutual coupling level among elements. Moreover, single beam and multibeam application scenarios are considered for the performance comparison and both cases assess the remarkable features offered by a triangular arrangement. Particular attention is paid to illustrate, for different propagation channel scenarios, the effects of the array lattice on overall system performance including average gain as well as Signal-to-Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) and Sum Spectral Efficiency (SSE). The obtained results prove that a regular and periodic triangular lattice is appealing for arrays to be adopted in massive MIMO 5G systems.