  Distributed phased arrays based multiple-input multiple-output (DPA-MIMO) is
a newly introduced architecture that enables both spatial multiplexing and
beamforming while facilitating highly reconfigurable hardware implementation in
millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency bands. With a DPA-MIMO system, we focus on
channel state information (CSI) acquisition and hybrid precoding. As benefited
from a coordinated and open-loop pilot beam pattern design, all the sub-arrays
can perform channel sounding with less training overhead compared with the
traditional orthogonal operation of each sub-array. Furthermore, two sparse
channel recovery algorithms, known as joint orthogonal matching pursuit (JOMP)
and joint sparse Bayesian learning with $\ell_2$ reweighting (JSBL-$\ell_2$),
are proposed to exploit the hidden structured sparsity in the beam-domain
channel vector. Finally, successive interference cancellation (SIC) based
hybrid precoding through sub-array grouping is illustrated for the DPA-MIMO
system, which decomposes the joint sub-array RF beamformer design into an
interactive per-sub-array-group handle. Simulation results show that the
proposed two channel estimators fully take advantage of the partial coupling
characteristic of DPA-MIMO channels to perform channel recovery, and the
proposed hybrid precoding algorithm is suitable for such array-of-sub-arrays
architecture with satisfactory performance and low complexity.
