Huawei, together with China Unicom Group, completed field verification of the industry's first FDD-based massive MIMO technology using the existing two-antenna receiving terminal and 20 MHz of spectrum.
With the rapid development of mobile Internet applications, such as high-definition video and online games, massive broadband (MBB) networks face a huge challenge in capacity. Massive MIMO can help operators greatly enhance wireless network capacity and user experience by maximizing existing sites and spectrum resources. Massive MIMO is one of the key solutions for Huawei's 4.5G Evolution.
The joint field test, using 20 MHz of spectrum and an FDD LTE commercial terminal, demonstrated that the average mobile phone rate grows up to 87 Mbps, which enables users to watch 4K high-definition video smoothly. The test also verified the network peak up to 697.3 Mbps, 4.8x that of traditional FDD LTE.
According to the 3GPP standard, Release 10 defines an 8-port multi-antenna technology in TM9 mode, Release 13 defines a 16-port multi-antenna technology, and Release 14 defines 32-port multi-antenna technology. With commercialization of the terminals supporting the above protocols, the spectral efficiency of massive MIMO will be further enhanced. Based on the existing FDD LTE massive MIMO prototype, Huawei will continue to optimize its products and drive the FDD LTE massive MIMO industry chain to maturity.
Cao Ming, President of Huawei’s FDD product line said, “Our goal is to bring considerable commercial value to operators through innovative technology. This successful field verification between Huawei and China Unicom once again demonstrated the innovative capability of Huawei’s 4.5G Evolution technology. Huawei's massive MIMO product has the ability to evolve to 5G to protect the operator's investment in the coming 5G era.”