Channel Map-Based Channel Estimation for Near-Field UM-MIMO with Movable Planar Arrays

Accurate channel estimation is essential for coherent transmission in ultra-massive multiple-input multiple-output (UM-MIMO) systems, where near-field propagation and high-dimensional spatial channels impose substantial signal processing challenges. Movable antenna architectures increase the estimation complexity further due to geometry-dependent channel variations. Existing approaches struggle to balance accuracy and complexity, motivating the use of environment-dependent propagation structures for efficient estimation. To this end, this paper proposes a unified channel map-based channel estimation framework for UM-MIMO systems, which integrates movable planar array reconfiguration and near-field spherical-wave modeling to support geometry-aware line-of-sight (LoS) estimation and efficient non-LoS (NLoS) recovery. A channel map-based LoS estimator is proposed combining coarse user position information with a Fisher information-guided antenna placement strategy. Two efficient NLoS estimation methods are also presented, including a sketch-based reduced-subspace estimator for low-complexity processing and a channel map-based estimator that leverages scatterer location information for near-optimal performance. The framework further incorporates visibility-region modeling and a structural similarity-based pilot assignment strategy for multi-user scenarios. Simulation results show that the proposed channel map-based framework improves estimation accuracy, reduces computational overhead, and enhances scalability compared with state-of-the-art benchmarks without channel maps.

A Novel 6G Dynamic Channel Map Based on a Hybrid Channel Model

In the sixth generation (6G) wireless communication networks, the device density, antenna number, and the complexity of communication scenarios will significantly increase, which brings great challenges for system design and network optimization. By obtaining channel information in advance, channel map has become a promising solution to these challenges in 6G era. However, conventional channel maps cannot be updated in time as physical environment changes. To solve the problem, a novel dynamic channel map (DCM) is proposed in this work. For DCM construction, we further present a ray tracing (RT) and geometric stochastic hybrid channel model (RT-GSHCM), which pre-constructs the DCM offline by RT and updates it online by geometry-based stochastic channel model (GBSM). By this way, the DCM can provide time-varying channel information and channel properties while matintaining accuracy. Next, a channel measurement campaign is conducted, and the measurement results are compared with the RT-GSHCM, RT, and GBSM. The comparison results validate the accuracy of DCM. Meanwhile, the time cost on DCM update is compared with that of conventional channel maps, illustrating the time-efficiency of DCM. Finally, important statistical channel properties of RT-GSHCM are further derived, analyzed, and compared under different configurations of interaction objects in physical environment.