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The demand for mobile data continues to explode, with an incredible projected year-on-year growth of 46% (Statista, 2019). Mobile
network operators are continually pressed to find new ways to get more data through the air. Cellular-band radio frequency spectrum
is an incredibly finite resource and accordingly buying exclusive operating rights commands a very high price. For example, in the US
the price per 1 MHz of 4G / 5G suitable spectrum in 2017 pushed USD $240 million.
There are four approaches to increasing capacity without having to acquire more spectrum. All four circle around the idea of
increasing something known as spectral efficiency. Spectral efficiency, measured in bits per second per Hertz (b/s/Hz), refers to how
much information can be transmitted each second over a given width of radio spectrum. Limits to spectral efficiency are governed by
the Shannon-Hartley Theorem.
Cell Densification
In even a small town there may be thousands of mobile data users, from ordinary pedestrians, to people driving in vehicles, to small
IoT devices built into advertising signs and vending machines. While a single cell tower may be sufficient to cover this small town,
doing so would put each device in competition with each other for airtime. The radio access network would have to then juggle a
complicated schedule of who transmits when and how many resource blocks to dedicate to each user. Some users would be far from
the cell site and have to transmit at a slower rate in order to make sure their information was sent successfully.
By adding additional cell towers in key geographic locations the total number of users will be divided between all sites. Each site now
schedules a smaller number of users, meaning more airtime per user. This seems reasonably straight-forward, however as these new
sites are operating on the same frequency band they must be carefully positioned and the transmit power of each base station
coordinated to ensure interference is kept to a minimum.
Adding sites in weak signal areas allows users, who were originally transmitting at a slower rate and consuming more airtime per unit
of data, to communicate with the base station at a faster rate and improving the number of bits per second.
Transmit Diversity: The use of two antennas at the base station which send identical streams of data to a single receiver antenna
using Space Time Block Coding (STBC). The burden of complexity is borne by the base station instead of the user equipment.
Receive Diversity: The use of two antennas at the receiver which work in unison to help reconstruct the original base station
transmission.
SISO vs MIMO Channel Capacity
Comparison [1]
Using MIMO we can theoretically achieve up to an n increase in throughput per n antenna. Intuitively this follows from the ability to
add one additional stream of data per additional antenna. Under real world conditions however this is rarely the case. To understand
why we will look at the major MIMO configurations in the sections below.
2x2 MIMO
2x2 MIMO, sometimes referred to as 2T2R, uses two antennas to establish up to two streams of data with the receiving device. Compared
to ordinary single antenna networks, 2x2 offers up to a 100% increase in throughput.
With two spatial streams established, the data payload is divided across both antennas and transmitted over the same frequency band. In
order for spatial multiplexing to be effective, the antennas must be well isolated and configured to provide a low correlation coefficient.
Typically the most effective way to achieve low correlation in a 2x2 system is to use orthogonal polarisations, for example, using one
vertically polarised antenna and one horizontally polarised antenna.
Of course in many UE systems totally orthogonal polarisations are not possible, in which case the concept of Envelope Correlation
Coefficient (ECC) comes into play. ECC accounts for characteristics such as 3D radiation patterns and phasing to determine how
independent the two antennas are of each other. Ultimately practicality forms an upper limit to antenna performance as both antennas must
be enclosed in a single device or installed in a small amount of space.
4x4 MIMO
4x4 MIMO, sometimes referred to as 4T4R, uses four antennas to establish up to four streams of data with the receiving device. Compared
to ordinary single antenna (SISO) networks, 4x4 offers up to a 400% increase in throughput.
With four spatial streams established the data payload is divided across all four antennas and transmitted over the same frequency band.
Unlike 2x2 MIMO where it was feasible to simply use two polarisations, the use of four unique polarisations is rare. With reduced isolation
and Envelope Correlation Coefficient (ECC), this has significant implications - most notably under clear channel conditions where the
construction of physically independent propagation paths are not possible.
The use of older 2x2 MIMO equipment on 4x4 networks also has implications, where the transmission must operate in 4x2 mode to map
data streams appropriately. Tests performed by China Telecom in 2017 demonstrated that in good signal areas 2x2 equipment slowed
down when the network was upgraded to 4x4 MIMO.
4x4 MIMO equipment is however widely available with most smartphones and modems now compatible. Under strong signal conditions 4x4
provides around a 90% improvement over 2x2 MIMO, and under weak conditions as high as 160% faster than 2x2.
8x8 MIMO
8x8 MIMO, often referred to as 8T8R, uses eight antennas to establish up to eight streams of data with the receiving device. Compared to
ordinary single antenna (SISO) networks 8x8 offers up to a theoretical 800% increase in throughput, although this is significantly lower in
practice.
With eight spatial streams established the data payload is divided across all eight antennas and transmitted over the same frequency band.
Unlike traditional 2x2 MIMO antenna element configurations, 8x8 MIMO does not use eight independent polarisations, instead combining
dual polarised elements with spatial separation. Design of 8x8 MIMO antennas requires intensive computer simulation to ensure sufficiently
low envelope correlations and inter-port isolation.
64T64R
Massive MIMO
Massive MIMO includes a number of multiple antenna configurations including 32T32R, 64T64R, and 128T128R. These systems use a
large array of antennas to establish multiple streams of data with multiple devices simultaneously. Massive MIMO uses beamforming
technology to construct user dedicated beams which provide increased signal power and reduced interference to multiple users at the
same time.
In an nTmR array, there are n transmitting antenna elements and m receiving elements, with each UE leveraging the entire array or a
subset therein. Compared to a legacy 2x2 MIMO LTE network, Massive MIMO typically provides a 500 to 800% increase in total cell
throughput under the same radio conditions. Massive MIMO is a key enabler of 5G NR, implemented in all sub-6 GHz 5G networks. The
technology is rapidly being introduced across existing 4G networks to provide multi-gigabit throughput without requiring new spectrum.
128T128R