Optimizing antenna configuration for MIMO systems with imperfect channel estimation

We study the optimal antenna configuration (i.e. number of transmit and receive antennas) for multiple-input multiple-output systems in pilot-symbol-assisted modulation schemes with imperfect channel estimation. We assume block flat-fading channels and focus on a practical range of high signal-to-noise ratio. An ergodic capacity lower bound is used as the objective function to be maximized. We analytically study the capacity gain from adding extra antennas to the transmitter or to the receiver in two different scenarios. Our numerical results show that the optimal antenna configuration under imperfect channel estimation can be significantly different from that under perfect channel estimation assumption. In addition, we investigate the capacity gain from optimizing antenna configuration and find that the gain can be larger than that achieved by optimizing transmit power over pilot and data symbols, particularly for large block lengths.