Compressive sensing for feedback reduction in MIMO broadcast channels

In multi-antenna broadcast networks, the base stations (BSs) rely on the channel state information (CSI) of the users to perform user scheduling and downlink transmission. However, in networks with large number of users, obtaining CSI from all users is arduous, if not impossible, in practice. This paper proposes channel feedback reduction techniques based on the theory of compressive sensing (CS), which permits the BS to obtain CSI with acceptable recovery guarantees under substantially reduced feedback overhead. Additionally, assuming noisy CS measurements at the BS, inexpensive ways for improving post-CS detection are explored. The proposed techniques are shown to reduce the feedback overhead, improve CS detection at the BS, and achieve a sum-rate close to that obtained by noiseless dedicated feedback channels.