Beam Focusing for Multi-User MIMO Communications with Dynamic Metasurface Antennas

Recently, dynamic metasurface antennas (DMAs) have emerged as a promising technology for realizing massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems. The usage of large arrays, jointly with higher transmitted frequencies, often results in the communicating devices operating in the near-field (Fresnel) region, thus requiring different considerations compared to traditional systems, assumed to operate in the far-field regime. In this paper, we study the potential of beam focusing, feasible in near-field operation, for multi-user MIMO systems, where the base station is equipped with a DMA. We introduce a mathematical model for DMA-based near-field MIMO communications. Then, we characterize the sum-rate maximization problem of the considered system, and propose an efficient solution to jointly design the DMA weights and digital precoding vector. Simulation results show that our design generates focused beams such that users residing at the same angular direction can communicate reliably without interfering, which is not achievable using conventional far-field beam steering.