Multiuser MIMO precoding with per-antenna continuous-time constant-envelope constraints

A transmission scheme for the multiuser MIMO downlink, where the transmit signal from each antenna has constant envelope and a limited bandwidth, is proposed in order to enable the use of highly efficient, nonlinear amplifiers at the base station. To evaluate its performance, an achievable rate is derived and the necessary transmit power of the proposed scheme is computed for a system with 40 antennas that serves 4 users at data rates around 1 bpcu. For this system and 40% excess 30 dB-bandwidth, approximately 3 dB more transmit power is required to achieve the same sum-rate as without the constant-envelope constraints.