7/27/2014 Building future networks with MIMO and OFDM

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CONNECTED PLANET ONLINE WIRELESS ONE-STOP WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY Building future networks with MIMO and OFDM
SEP 19, 2005 6:00 PM,
Building future networks with MIMO
and OFDM
By John Hoadley
Fast-rising consumer appetite for wireless broadband and the high-bandwidth applications
its beginning to deliver, including games, photos and video, creates a technology dilemma
for todays network equipment makers and wireless carriers.
How can already-scarce spectrum--a limited natural resource thats nearing maximum
saturation--carry more bandwidth-intensive data services, more economically, to an
increasingly hungry public?
For an analogy, think of the highway you drive. Imagine its lanes increasingly filled by
automobiles getting on at every on-ramp; at a certain point in time, theres gridlock. That
gridlock wont allow the newer, faster automobiles onto the highway even if technology has
enabled those new automobiles to be smaller, more sleek and cheaper. In this case, the
high potential demand for the latest, greatest automobile will exceed the ability to get those
autos onto the highway. Therefore, the full potential of innovation is lost.
Addressing the challenge of limited spectrum, coupled with increasing consumer demand
for bandwidth, requires innovation, so that consumer hunger can be satiated while carriers
business models perform effectively. New solutions must be developed that:
use available spectrum with the utmost efficiency to allow higher data throughput over the wireless link
support a greater number of users within individual cells and significantly enhance the user experience
reduce the carrier cost of transporting megabit-rate traffic and carry that lower carrier cost through to the
consumer.
Researchers and engineers have been tackling these issues on a number of fronts from
air interface design, to advanced antenna technologies, to new radio frequency and
hardware solutions. Their efforts have uncovered technologies that will form the key
building blocks for next-generation wireless broadband access solutions.
This article will take a look at two key technologies that will increase the likelihood that
consumers will be able to access the high-bandwidth applications they want, while on the
move and in a cost-effective way. Well also take a look at some of the obstacles to getting
there, some of the issues carriers will face, and the fast-changing future of wireless
broadband.
OFDM-MIMO: Key to greater performance
One building block for next-generation wireless access, MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-
output), is an advanced antenna technology that can carry 4 to 5 times more data traffic
than todays most advanced UMTS-HSDPA-ready (3G) networks. A network design
incorporating MIMO technology provides the scalability needed to quickly deliver multimedia
content to the mass market. With MIMO, for example, a megabit picture can be
downloaded in a half second or a 30-megabit video in half a minute.
MIMO works by creating multiple parallel data streams between the multiple transmit and
receive antennas (see figure below). Using the multi-path phenomenon, it can differentiate
the separate signal paths from each MIMO antenna. Thinking back to the highway example,
MIMO effectively adds several new highways.
7/27/2014 Building future networks with MIMO and OFDM
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Another radio technology with tremendous potential for helping solve spectrum challenges
is OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing). OFDM is a modulation technique,
depicted in the following graphic, which uses many sub-carriers, or tones, to carry a signal.
OFDM has some key advantages over the common wireless access technology known as
CDMA, which is used in many of todays 3G cellular networks. To begin with, it is more
robust, which means that it provides better performance in cluttered areas with many
reflections (multipath). It also allows for simpler receivers.
Perhaps most important, OFDM is more amenable to MIMO technologies. A trial conducted
in Nortels Wireless Technology Lab in early 2005 offers an example of this synergistic
nature. During the trial, a mobile user had the ability to view two live streaming videos
simultaneously while downloading a 264 MB file at 37 Mb/s over a standard 5MHz PCS
band. Using OFDM-MIMO, the download was achieved in less than a minute compared to
the 90 minutes that would be required with todays networks. This is roughly 10 times the
3.6 Mbps enabled by the first generation of HSDPA devices.
OFDM is a logical next step in broadband radio evolution. It is already being applied in IEEE
standards like IEEE 802.11 and 802.16, also referred to as Wi-Fi and WiMAX, respectively.
Standards groups are currently working to standardize OFDM-MIMO as it relates to Wi-Fi
and WiMAX. At this time, OFDM-MIMO is not part of the formal evolution path for existing
cellular systems based on the 3GPP (UMTS, HSDPA) and 3GPP2 (CDMA 1X, EV-DO)
standards; however, standards groups are working to understand its role in providing
wireless broadband.
7/27/2014 Building future networks with MIMO and OFDM
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Getting ready, from a carrier perspective
It is important to note that the OFDM-MIMO evolution being suggested here for 3GPP and
3GPP2 is an evolution of existing 3G networks not a new network. This means existing
sites and network architecture could be re-used, allowing wireless operators to preserve
their previous investments in existing networks like todays 3G networks. On the other hand,
the use of OFDM-MIMO for WiMAX 802.16e, which is progressing very rapidly, would
require a new network.
The building of large-scale OFDM-MIMO networks will take several years and it will not be
without challenges. For instance, at the cell site, the use of cross pole antennas will allow
service providers to avoid having to install additional large antennas, which can cause
installation and zoning problems. However, service providers and equipment manufacturers
will need cabling from the antennas to the tower bases. Devices will also be impacted,
requiring extra built-in antennas and more stringent component tolerances. Fortunately,
significant work is in progress to address these issues.
In summary
There is considerable evidence that the appetite for wireless broadband is only just
beginning and that wireless broadband will become the largest growth area within the
wireless industry. The starting point for this growth is increasing consumer reliance on
laptop computers. Today, more laptops are sold in the United States than desktop PCs. As
this trend continues, so will users demand for the same type of broadband service no
matter where they are at home, at the office, or on the road.
WiFi and existing high-speed cellular networks being deployed today meet some of these
needs, but OFDM-MIMO, used by WiMAX 802.16e or beyond 3G, is the technology needed
to allow for economic and scalable wireless broadband. The scalability furnished by these
technologies becomes especially important once MP3 players, PDAs, portable games
devices and other handheld devices are equipped to provide wireless broadband, giving
users a broadband connection wherever they go.
Going back to our earlier analogy, if the wireless industry fast-forwards the acceptance of
MIMO and OFDM technologies into the refinement of our highways, we will be able to put
the latest, greatest automobiles--applications--on those highways and allow people to get
places faster and more efficiently than ever before. In this way, MIMO and OFDM are key
technologies for enabling the wireless industry to deliver on the vast potential and promise
of wireless broadband.
John Hoadley is vice president, Next Wireless Generation Access, for Nortel.
Visit Nortel (http://www.nortel.com) online.
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