2018, 35th NATIONAL RADIO SCIENCE CONFERENCE

(NRSC 2018), March 20 - 22, 2018

Misr International University (MIU), Cairo, Egypt

Modelling and Simulation of Narrow Band Electromagnetic Interference in Millimeter

Wave Massive MIMO Systems
Mohamed Shalaby 1, Mona Shokair 2, Nagy Wadie Messiha 3
1, 2, 3
Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University, Menouf, Egypt
mhmd_shlpy@yahoo.com, mona.sabry@el-eng.menofia.edu.eg, and Dr.nagy_wadie@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) can exist among the wireless systems, especially when they are operating
at the same or adjacent frequency bands. This EMI level degrades the existing systems' performance. An
electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) level, among these systems, should exist to guarantee an acceptable
performance. The aim of proposed work is to mathematical analyze and simulate the narrow band interference
(NBI), in a millimeter wave massive multiple input multiple output, MIMO, environment. Then, the NBI impact is
clarified. A novel mathematical formula for the Bit Error Rate (BER) of random data, which are carried over
millimeter wave massive MIMO systems, at noisy channels, is derived and approved by the simulation results.
Simulation results clarifies that the NBI degrades the proposed system performance. Furthermore, an incensement
in antennas' number can improve the performance.

Keywords: Narrow Band Interference, Millimeter Wave Channel, Massive MIMO, and Bit Error Rate.

I. INTRODUCTION
Wireless technology is vital for several applications in life. This technology exists in mobile systems, TV
systems, and much more. The existence of different wireless systems leads the spectrum to be overcrowded. These
systems should be compatible to pose a satisfied performance. The EMI, which can exist due to incompatibility
among wireless systems, can minimize the performance. Therefore, the EMI study, in a wireless world, becomes a
necessity.

The EMI phenomenon, in medical environments, is discussed in [1]. It clarified that the medical equipment
may be malfunction when they are affected by intentional and non-intentional EMI from the surrounding
environment. Subsequently, the authors of [2] tried to create a numerical tool for the EMI prediction in a radio
system to ease the design stage. An EMI simulation tool is suggested in [3]. In more depth, an EMI automated
measurement system, with a high dynamic range, is implemented in [4]. The implemented transmitter/receiver
circuits should be robust to EMI radiation and susceptibility [5-6]. In [7], the NBI, affecting a wireless
communication system, was statistically expressed as a noise signal. Moreover, the BER of a wireless single input
single output (SISO) OFDM communication system, operating at radio frequency channels, was investigated. By
the same way, the BER of a multiband OFDM system, at interfering faded channels, was analysed and then, it was
simulated in [8]. Subsequently, [9] discussed the NBI and the ultra-wide band interference (UWBI) impact on the
BER of a radio wireless communication system.

The interest in studying the NBI, in this research, is that the narrow band systems can emit high power in
narrow band width. Therefore, they can provide more disturbances in the EMI environment than other systems.
The narrow band signals, in space, should be a part of the link budget equation during a radio system design.

Unlike the radio frequency and microwave channels, the millimetre wave massive MIMO channels can
provide a high performance. Small antennas are easily implemented. Moreover, they can present a high
bandwidth. In addition, a secure communication can be provided because of low competing devices working in
these bands. Furthermore, a robust and a reliable communication can occur by applying a closed loop beam
forming mechanism [10-13].

In this paper, the electromagnetic NBI, in wireless millimeter wave massive MIMO systems, is explained and
demonstrated in details. The NBI effect, in these systems, is mathematically analyzed and simulated. In addition, a
novel mathematical formula for the BER, of a multicarrier millimeter wave massive MIMO system which is prone
to the NBI, is derived and approved by simulation.

ISBN 978-1-5386-4256-6/18/$31.00 © 2018 IEEE 149 C5

 2018, 35th NATIONAL RADIO SCIENCE CONFERENCE
(NRSC 2018), March 20 - 22, 2018
Misr International University (MIU), Cairo, Egypt

This paper is arranged as follows; Section II provides the complete mathematical derivations of the proposed
system affected by NBI. In section III, the NBI is statistically modelled. In Section IV, simulation results are
discussed. Finally, conclusions are outlined in Section V.

II. SYSTEM MODEL

Consider a wireless mobile cellular system has NBS and NMS antennas at the base and the mobile station,
respectively. Moreover, NS data streams are transferred from a base station to a mobile station (downlink
transmission). The proposed system model is clarified in Figure 1. Moreover, Figure 2 (a, b) clarifies, in details,
the model of a millimeter wave link.

Fig. 1: The proposed OFDM millimeter wave massive MIMO system.

(a) (b)

Fig. 2: The model of a millimeter wave link.

The transmitted signal before the antenna, S(t), can be considered as S (NS×1) vector, in such a way, that;

H PS
E [ SS ]= I NS (1)
NS

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Misr International University (MIU), Cairo, Egypt

Where E gives the expectation, PS is the transmitted samples' power, NS is the transmitted samples' number
whereas the identity matrix is given by I [14].

The transmitted signal is an OFDM one and it is represented as;

K 2π
EC j( ) kt
S (t ) =
TC
¦a e
k =0
k
TC
0 ” t ” TC (2)

where EC represents the energy for a coded data bit, TC is the duration of a symbol, K gives the subcarriers'
number and ak ࣅ {± 1, ± j} is the coded transmitted symbols at kth subcarrier.

The mobile station signal (received one), r(t), can be given by;

r ( t ) = S ( t ) * h1 ( t ) + U i ( t ) * h 2 ( t ) + n ( t ) (3)

where h1(t) and h2(t) are the existing millimeter wave MIMO channels. h1(t) is the channel connecting the
intended base station with the intended mobile station whereas h2(t) represents the existing channel between an
interfering source and the mobile station. This interfering source may be an interfering base or mobile station. The
AWGN is given by n(t) whereas Ui (t) is the narrow band interfering signal that can be clarified, as a single carrier
signal, as follows;
2π
Ei j ( Ti ) t + βi
U i (t ) = bi e 0 ” t ” Ti (4)
Ti

where Ei represents the energy per interfering bit, Ti is the interfering symbol duration, bi ࣅ {± 1, ± j} is the
coded interfering symbol, and ȕi is a phase shift.

The millimeter wave MIMO channel can be represented, as in [14], as follows;

L
N BS N MS
H =
ρ
¦α a
l =1
l MS (θ l ) a BS
H
(ϕ l ) (5)

where ȡ is the average path loss between the base station and the mobile station, Įl is the complex gain of the l
th
path, and L is the available paths' number. The path amplitudes are Rayleigh distributed. The symbols șl and ijl
ࣅ [0, 2ʌ] are the l th paths azimuth angles of departure or arrival of the base station and the mobile station,
respectively. The antenna array response vectors at the base station and the mobile station, aBS (ijl) and aMS (șl),
can be represented, as in [14], as;

2π 2π
1 j d . sin( ϕ l ) j ( N BS −1 ). d . sin( ϕ l )
a BS (ϕ l ) = [1, e λ
,......... .......... .......... .......... ..., e λ
]T (6)
N BS

2π 2π
1 j d . sin( θ l ) j ( N MS −1 ). d . sin( θ l )
a MS (ϕ l ) = [1, e λ
,......... .......... .......... .......... ..., e λ
]T (7)
N MS

where d is the antenna elements' separation distance. The received signal may be given by;

r ( t ) = r1 ( t ) + r2 ( t ) + n ( t ) (8)

where r1(t) and r2(t) represent the received data signal and the received narrow band interference one,
respectively. The received data signal is represented as;

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Misr International University (MIU), Cairo, Egypt

2π
EC K j( ) kt N BS N MS L
r1 ( t ) =
TC
¦
k =0
ak e TC
*
ρ
¦α
l =1
l a MS (θ l ) a BS
H
(ϕ l ) (9)

K L 2π
EC N BS N MS j( ) kt
r1 ( t ) =
TC
.
ρ
¦¦a
k = 0 l =1
k α l a MS (θ l ) a H
BS ( ϕ l ) .e TC
(10)

Then, the power of received data signal, E R.D , can be given by;

K L
E C . N BS . N MS
¦¦ a
2
E R .D = k .α l (11)
TC . ρ k =0 l =0

The received signal, representing narrow band interference, is;

2π Li
Ei j ( Ti )t + βi N i N MS
r2 (t ) =
Ti
bi e *
ρi
¦α
l =1
li aMS (θ l ) aiH (ϕ l ) (12)

Li 2π
)t+ βi
E i N i N MS j(
r2 ( t ) =
Ti
.
ρi
¦ bα
l =1
i li a MS (θ l ) a (ϕ l ).e i
H Ti
(13)

Where Ni is the antennas' number of the interfering source. The subscript i refer to the interfering source
parameters. Then, the received narrow band interfering power, E N.B.I , is given by;

Li
E i . N i . N MS
¦
2
E N .B .I = bi .α li (14)
Ti . ρ i l=0

The total received signal, r(t), is;

K L 2π
EC N BS N MS j( ) kt
r (t ) =
TC
.
ρ
¦¦a
k = 0 l =1
k α l a MS (θ l ) a H
BS (ϕ l ).e TC

Li 2π
Ei N i N MS j( )t + β i
+
Ti
.
ρi
¦ bα
l =1
i li a MS (θ l ) a (ϕ l ).e i
H Ti
0 ” t ” Ti (15)

+ n (t )
The total signal to interference and noise ratio, SINR, per one bit can be given as follow;

E C . N BS . N MS K L
¦ ¦
2
a k .α l
TC . ρ k =0 l=0
SINR = Li (16)
E i . N i . N MS
¦
2
bi .α li + σ N2
Ti . ρ i l=0

where ıN 2 represents the noise variance (power). The BER in the binary phase shift (BPSK) keying OFDM
system, at AWGN channels, can be obtained, as in [15], as follows;

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Misr International University (MIU), Cairo, Egypt

1 Eb
BER = Q( ) (17)
2 No

where Q(x) denotes the complementary error function, Eb gives the energy of a bit, and No is the noise energy.
The BER, in the suggested system applying AWGN channels, can be obtained as follows;

1 H 2 .E b 1 Eb
BER = Q( ) = Q(H . ) (18)
2 No 2 No

III. NBI MODELLING

The NBI, in this work, is statistically modeled, as a noise signal, as stated before in [7][9]. It considered that
the NBI, affecting a wireless system, could be modeled as a noise signal with a distribution of Poisson. When a
narrow band interferers affect a multicarrier system (wideband signal), it can affect a portion of its spectrum. The
interfering power, affecting a subcarrier at fm , X, can be given by;

Ω Ω
2 2Ω 2
X = ³ P X y ( f m ) dy = ³ X y ( f m ) dy (19)
0
W 0

where y is the different frequency values where the interference can affect, ȍ is the bandwidth of the narrow
band interfering signal, and W is the bandwidth of the wideband signal [7][9].

The NBI can be represented as a random variable, as in [7][9], with a probability distribution function (pdf)
value of;

( z −μ )2
∞ −( )
Pk
PZ ( z k ) = ¦ .e 2σ k2
(20)
k =1 2πσ k2

IV. SIMULATION RESULTS

The NBI impact on the suggested system is simulated. The simulation model considers a data source which is
mapped to BPSK symbols. The simulation parameters are included in Table 1. There are 104 data symbols which
are mapped to BPSK. Subsequently, an OFDM modulator can modulate the mapped BPSK symbols. These
symbols are carried over a wireless channel which is massive MIMO one working in the millimetre wave
frequency bands. The applied channel model is as in [14]. The simulated wireless channel considers a noise and a
NBI source. The received modulated symbols with noise and interference are demodulated and a selection
combining scheme is carried out. Subsequently, the BER is used as a metric for performance evaluation. The
interfering signals, NBI, is modelled as a noise signal, with Poisson distribution, that can affect the all mapped
data signals in the system.

In the applied simulation, the narrow band interference is expressed as a random noise signal (real &
imaginary components), with Poisson distribution, that can affect the whole OFDM subcarriers. Moreover, the
applied narrow band signal (random noise signal) is assumed to affect the carried data signals as whole. This
assumption is applied in order to agree with a previously published work in [7][9].

The suggested system performance, when the NBI exists, is sketched in Figure 3. The system seems to
perform well when the received signals have high signal to noise ratio values. Moreover, the performance can be
further improved by implementation of more transmitting or receiving antennas. A trade off, between the number
of implemented antennas and the tolerated noise value at the receiver, may be existent. The BER can be reduced
and then a better system performance can be obtained when the received signals have a high power or little noise.
In addition, it is obvious that increasing the signal to noise ratio in interfering channels can minimize BER at
certain limit however, the interference can present a performance improvement barrier as clarified in Figure 3.
The BER cannot be reduced than a value of 10-3 however, the high values of received signal power.

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Misr International University (MIU), Cairo, Egypt

In this paragraph, the deduced Eq. 18 is checked. It is compared with the simulated system performance. The
analytical performance (Eq. 18) is compared with that is obtained by simulation. The performance of the proposed
system is estimated at AWGN noisy channels in Figure 4. From this Figure, it can be observed that, the BER of
the proposed system is improved when the signals arrive with high values of signal to noise ratio values. The
analytical BER value, which is derived in Eq. (18), is compared with the simulated one. The analytical value of
BER is completely equivalent to the simulated one which proves the accuracy of Eq. (18).

Table 1. The simulation parameters.

Parameter Value
Radio frequency chain at BS and MS 8
Mobile station antennas' number 2
Millimeter Wave Base station antennas' number Varied
Channel Channel paths' number 1
Carrier frequency 28 GHz
Separating distance between base station and a user 30 m
Number of iterations 104
Number of data symbols 104
FFT size 64
Subcarriers' number 52
OFDM Signal Cyclic prefix length 0.25
Mapping BPSK
Combining Scheme Selection Combining

0
10

3 x 2 antennas
6 x 2 antennas
7 x 2 antennas

-1
10
BER

-2
10

-3
10
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30
Eb / No [dB]

Fig. 3: The simulated BER of the proposed system.

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Misr International University (MIU), Cairo, Egypt

0
10

Analytical
Simulation
-1
10
BER

-2
10

-3
10

-4
10
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15
Eb / No [dB]

Fig. 4: The simulated and the theoretical proposed system's performance at AWGN channels.

V. CONCLUSION
A millimeter wave massive MIMO system is simulated. The NBI effect, on the performance of this system, is
mathematically analyzed and simulated. The BER, at AWGN noisy channels, is mathematically derived and
plotted over the simulated one. There is a similarity between the simulated BER and the analytical one and this
confirm the correctness of Eq. 18. In addition, the system performance is simulated when the NBI affects the
system. It can be observed that, the system can perform well when the number of implemented antennas at the
transmitter and at the receiver increases. Moreover, the NBI can degrade the system performance but its effect can
be reduced when the signals emitted at the transmitter with a high power or by implementation of a lot of antennas
at the transmitter and at the receiver.

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