On the mutual information of 3D massive MIMO systems: An asymptotic approach

Motivated by the recent interest in 3D beamforming to enhance system performance, we present an information-theoretic channel model for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, that can support the elevation dimension. The principle of maximum entropy is used to determine the distribution of the channel matrix consistent with the prior angular information. We provide an explicit expression for the cumulative density function (CDF) of the mutual information in the large number of transmit antennas and paths regime. The derived Gaussian approximation is quite accurate even for realistic system dimensions. The simulation results study the achievable performance through the meticulous selection of the transmit antenna downtilt angles. The results are directly applicable to the analysis of 5G 3D massive MIMO systems.