A Tutorial on Holographic MIMO Communications-Part I: Channel Modeling and Channel Estimation

By integrating a nearly infinite number of reconfigurable elements into a finite space, a spatially continuous array aperture is formed for holographic multiple-input multiple-output (HMIMO) communications. This three-part tutorial aims for providing an overview of the latest advances in HMIMO communications. As Part I of the tutorial, this letter first introduces the fundamental concept of HMIMO and reviews the recent progress in HMIMO channel modeling, followed by a suite of efficient channel estimation approaches. Finally, numerical results are provided for demonstrating the statistical consistency of the new HMIMO channel model advocated with conventional ones and evaluating the performance of the channel estimators. Parts II and III of the tutorial will delve into the performance analysis and holographic beamforming, and detail the interplay of HMIMO with emerging technologies.

Automated summary

This tutorial, in its first part, provides an overview of the fundamental concept of holographic multiple-input multiple-output (HMIMO) communications and reviews the recent progress in HMIMO channel modeling. It also presents efficient channel estimation approaches and demonstrates the statistical consistency of the new HMIMO channel model with conventional ones. Numerical results are provided to evaluate the performance of the channel estimators.