We propose an uplink massive MIMO system using an array of holographic metasurfaces as a sector antenna. The antenna consists of a set of rectangular waveguide-fed metasurfaces combined along the elevation direction into a planar aperture, each with
subwavelength-sized metamaterial elements as radiators. The metamaterial radiators are designed such that the waveguide-fed metasurface implements a holographic solution for the guided (or reference) mode, generating a fan beam towards a prescribed direction, thereby forming a multibeam antenna system. We demonstrate that a narrowband uplink massive MIMO system using the metasurfaces can achieve the sum capacity close to that offered by the Rayleigh channel at 3.5 GHz. We show that metasurfaces supporting multiple fan beams can achieve high spatial resolution in the azimuth directions in sub-6 GHz channels, and thereby form uncorrelated MIMO channels between the base station and users. Also, the proposed metasurface antenna is structurally simple, low-cost, and efficient, and thus is suitable to alleviate RF hardware issues common to massive MIMO systems equipped with a large antenna system.
We explore the hybridization of fundamental material resonances with the artificial resonances of metamaterials. A hybrid structure is presented in the waveguide environment that consists of a resonant magnetic material with a characteristic tuneable
gyromagnetic response that is integrated into a complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) metamaterial structure. The combined structure exhibits a distinct hybrid resonance in which each natural resonance of the CSRR is split into a lower and upper resonance that straddle the frequency for which the magnetic materials permeability is zero. We provide an analytical understanding of this hybrid resonance and define an effective medium theory for the combined structure that demonstrates good agreement with numerical electromagnetic simulations. The designed structure demonstrates the potential for using a ferrimagnetic or ferromagnetic material as a means of creating a tunable metamaterial structure.
