Schaalbare en eindige precisie transmissie en verwerking in Cell-Vrije Massieve MIMO-netwerken

In a Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) network, users are spatially separated and can be served simultaneously on the same time/frequency resources. This spatial multiplexing increases throughput compared to traditional multiplexing methods, such as time or frequency multiplexing. In distributed massive MIMO networks, also referred to as cell-free massive MIMO networks, multiple distributed antennas in small access points (APs) work collaboratively to serve users. This cooperation improves throughput by mitigating the negative effects of large-scale fading (e.g., path loss or shadowing) on users' channels to the APs. To enable joint user serving, the APs must exchange data over fronthaul links with limited capacity. This data exchange can lead to buffering requirements in some APs while waiting for data from other collaborating APs. This thesis investigates: 1) the impact of fronthaul signaling over limited-capacity links, and 2) the effects of buffering in low-capacity memory units on users' spectral efficiency. The thesis also proposes signal processing techniques to mitigate these adverse impacts.