Repeater-Assisted MIMO Can Also Boost Frequency Diversity: A Semi-Analytic Study

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) has enabled substantial spatial multiplexing and array gains in real-world systems, while distributed MIMO (D-MIMO) improves macro-diversity over wide areas at the cost of deployment complexity. Repeater-assisted massive MIMO (RA-MIMO) is a lower-cost alternative that can recover key distributed-MIMO advantages. This paper asks whether repeater assistance can also enhance frequency diversity. We study an uncoded discrete Fourier transform-spread orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) uplink with one-tap single-carrier frequency-domain equalization (SC-FDE) based on minimum mean-square error (MMSE) and derive a receiver-matched semi-analytic bit-error rate (BER) expression by averaging over channel and interference realizations, without Gaussian approximation of residual despreading interference. The analysis clarifies how repeater delay reshapes frequency correlation, and waveform simulations confirm tight agreement with the derived expression together with improved high-signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) BER decay, highlighting delay as a practical tuning knob.