Full-Duplex Beamforming Systems with Coarse Quantization: How Many Bits Do We Need?

This paper investigates full-duplex (FD) multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) system design with coarse quantization. We first analyze the impact of self-interference (SI) on quantization in FD single-input single-output systems. The analysis elucidates that the minimum required number of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) bits is logarithmically proportional to the ratio of total received power to the received power of desired signals. Motivated by this, we design a FD MIMO beamforming method that effectively manages the SI. Dividing a spectral efficiency maximization beamforming problem into two sub-problems for alternating optimization, we address the first by optimizing the precoder: obtaining a generalized eigenvalue problem from the first-order optimality condition, where the principal eigenvector is the optimal stationary solution, and adopting a power iteration method to identify this eigenvector. Subsequently, a quantization-aware minimum mean square error combiner is computed for the derived precoder. Through numerical studies, we observe that the proposed beamformer reduces the minimum required number of ADC bits for achieving higher spectral efficiency than that of half-duplex (HD) systems, compared to FD benchmarks. The overall analysis shows that, unlike with quantized HD systems, more than 6 bits are required for the ADC to fully realize the potential of the quantized FD system.