Exploring Leaky Feeder Cable as a Massive MIMO Solution for Next-Generation of 5G Networks

Using a large number of individual antennas can significantly increase the costs associated with power consumption, as well as the hardware and software complexity of a massive MIMO system. In this paper, we present a relative new approach and show how a hidden gem, the radiating cable or leaky feeder (LF) with large number of slot antennas can be configured to perform as a massive MIMO transceiver which is satisfy the requirements of 5G networks, such as increasing coverage, ultralow latency, and data throughput. The LF MIMO systems will be significantly less complexity and can work up to millimeter wave bands. Additionally, the LF can adapt its transmit power based on the number of slots with perfect channel state information (CSI) or the square root of the number of slots with insufficient CSI, aiming to achieve performance comparable to an equivalent single-input single-output (SISO) system. In this paper, we present a comprehensive overview of the LF cable as a massive MIMO system, showing how the LF can be modeled as a point-to-point (P2P-MIMO), and as Multi-users MIMO (MU-MIMO). We also examine the bit error rate (BER), channel capacity, and energy efficiency achieved using LF. The LF performance shows a good performance as a MIMO system. Another good finding result is that, the received power of LF in confined areas follows α − µ distribution.