Outage capacity analysis of the massive MIMO diversity channel

We consider the massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) channel affected by independent and identically distributed Rayleigh fading, with linear processing at both transmitter and receiver sides to pursue full diversity, and analyze its outage capacity for large number of antennas. We first discuss the classical Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) diversity channel that encompasses Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) or Selection Combining (SC). For MRC, a numerical computation and a Gaussian Approximation (GA) are considered, whereas for SC an exact evaluation is presented. The analysis is then straightforwardly extended to the Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) diversity channel that encompasses Maximal Ratio Transmission (MRT) or transmit antenna selection. The general full diversity MIMO channel is finally considered, with optimal linear processing or simple antenna selection at both transmitter and receiver. If the number of antennas is sufficiently large on at least one side, the outage capacity of each considered diversity channel approaches that of a reference Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel with properly defined Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), which provides a performance benchmark. This conclusion is valid for large but realistic number of antennas compatible with the assumption of independent fading.