Future fifth generation (5G) cellular networks have to cope with the expected ten-fold increase in mobile data traffic between 2015 and 2021. To achieve this goal, new technologies are being considered, including massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems and millimeter-wave (mmWave) communications. Massive MIMO involves the use of large antenna array sizes at the base station, while mmWave communications employ frequencies between 30 and 300 GHz. In this thesis we study the impact of these technologies on the performance of channel estimators. Our results show that the characteristics of the propagation channel at mmWave frequencies improve the channel estimation performance in comparison with current, low frequency-based, cellular networks. Furthermore, we demonstrate the existence of an optimal angular spread of the multipath clusters, which can be used to maximize the capacity of mmWave networks. We also propose efficient noise variance estimators, which can be employed as an input to existing channel estimators.

In an extensive outdoor propagation study, low antenna heights of 1.7 m are used at both the transmitter and the receiver to measure over 3500 wideband power-delay profiles (PDPs) of the channel for a peer-to-peer communications system. Rural and urban areas are studied in 22 different transmitter-receiver links. The results are used to characterize the narrowband path loss, mean delay, root-mean-square (RMS) delay spread, and timing jitter of the peer-to-peer wideband channel. Small-scale fading characteristics are measured in detail by measuring and analyzing 160 PDPs within each local area. This thesis shows the measurement setup for the calculation of fading rate variance and angular spread and reports the first known attempt to calculate angular spread from track power measurements. New analysis presented in this thesis shows the effect of measurement error in the calculation of angular spread. The expected characteristics of angular spread are derived using two different angle-of-arrival (AOA) models from the literature. Measurement results show initial validation of Durgin's angular spread theory. A new measurement-based algorithm for simulating wideband fading processes is developed and implemented. This simulation technique shows promise in the simulation of high-bit rate peer-to-peer radio communication systems. / Master of Science