Showing posts with label Technology Massive MIMO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology Massive MIMO. Show all posts

Tuesday, 29 July 2025

NGMN’s Common Language for Antennas Lays the Foundation for Future-Proof Infrastructure

Base station antennas are critical components of mobile networks, serving as the final link between radio systems and the air interface. Despite their importance, there has long been a lack of consistency in how antenna systems are specified, validated and integrated into networks. This inconsistency has led to inefficiencies in procurement, difficulties in multi-vendor environments, and challenges in scaling network performance. The latest publication from the NGMN Alliance, “Recommendations for Base Station Antennas”, aims to change this by introducing a harmonised framework for describing passive, active and hybrid antenna systems.

The updated document combines the previously separate guidance on passive and active antenna systems into a single, unified publication. Developed under the BASTA (Base Station Antenna) project, it defines a comprehensive set of electrical, mechanical and environmental parameters relevant to base station antennas. These include radiation characteristics such as gain, beamwidth, front-to-back ratio and sidelobe suppression, as well as practical aspects like dimensions, weight, connector type, wind load and ingress protection. For active antennas, it also defines parameters for beamforming capability, scanning range, traffic beam configuration and power control.

One of the key motivations behind the updated recommendations is the growing use of hybrid antenna systems. These combine passive elements, such as the antenna array and remote electrical tilt, with integrated active components like transceivers and digital beamforming units. Hybrid configurations are especially relevant in 5G networks, which rely on advanced techniques like massive MIMO and dynamic beam steering to deliver high capacity and spectral efficiency. However, deploying such systems at scale, particularly in disaggregated or Open RAN architectures, requires a standardised way to describe and compare antenna products from different vendors.

The NGMN publication addresses this need by introducing a structured methodology for presenting antenna parameters, including definitions, recommended test practices and digital exchange formats. Notably, it supports XML-based datasheets aligned with an agreed schema, enabling machine-readable processing of antenna data. This is particularly useful for operators seeking to automate parts of the network planning and procurement lifecycle, including performance comparison, site design and integration testing.

The framework also incorporates coordinate system conventions, including multiple spherical and Cartesian reference models, to provide flexibility in how antenna orientation and beam direction are described. This is essential for accurate modelling of antenna coverage and interference in radio planning tools. The document additionally covers Remote Electrical Tilt (RET) systems, including configuration management, software upgradeability and compliance with AISG protocols.

Importantly, the NGMN recommendations are designed to be implementation-agnostic. Rather than enforcing performance thresholds or mandating design practices, the focus is on standardising the language used to describe antenna characteristics. This approach ensures that innovative antenna designs, including those supporting new form factors or frequency bands, can still be accommodated as long as they conform to the descriptive framework.

A further advantage of the framework is its extensibility. While the current version focuses on antennas operating below 6 GHz, it is expected that future versions will include extensions for higher frequency bands and additional attributes such as energy consumption, carbon footprint and circularity. These sustainability metrics will become increasingly important as networks aim to reduce their environmental impact while delivering ever-higher performance.

The importance of this work becomes clear in the context of multi-vendor and disaggregated networks, where interoperability depends not only on open interfaces but also on consistent component descriptions. A shared vocabulary for base station antennas enables smoother integration, better lifecycle management and more effective use of network resources. It also reduces vendor lock-in and improves supply chain flexibility, which is especially valuable for operators pursuing Open RAN strategies.

As antenna systems continue to evolve, the ability to describe their behaviour and capabilities with precision will be vital. NGMN’s BASTA recommendations offer a practical and forward-looking solution, supporting both current deployment models and the transition toward future architectures such as 6G. By promoting transparency, repeatability and interoperability, this common language for antennas strengthens the foundation of mobile network infrastructure and contributes to a more efficient, open and sustainable ecosystem.

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Tuesday, 3 June 2025

Viettel’s Growing Influence in 5G, Private Networks and Open RAN

Back in 2020, we wrote about Viettel's ambition to launch 5G using homegrown technology. Fast forward to 2025 and the Vietnamese operator has significantly advanced those ambitions. At MWC 2025, Viettel showcased its latest Private 5G Network solutions, and has since taken major steps in deploying commercial Open RAN networks, developing international partnerships, and building its own end-to-end 5G ecosystem.

Viettel’s commercial Open RAN 5G network is now live in Vietnam, marking a major milestone in the operator’s journey from national champion to global contender. Powered by Qualcomm’s X100 platform for distributed units and QRU100 for Massive MIMO radio units, the network delivers high capacity and energy efficiency across multiple provinces. Viettel is using inline accelerators to offload baseband processing, lowering cost and power usage while enhancing performance. These O-RAN-compliant radio units support 32T32R Massive MIMO and form part of Viettel’s strategy to provide public and private 5G services with full network automation and orchestration capabilities.

This deployment is not just a local success story. Over 300 sites were deployed in the first quarter of 2025, with thousands more planned both within Vietnam and internationally. The scale of the effort makes Viettel one of the largest carriers to launch a commercial Open RAN network. In addition to the network infrastructure, Viettel High Tech (VHT), the group’s R&D and equipment manufacturing arm, has contributed a substantial portion of the RAN software, positioning itself as a serious technology supplier in its own right.

The software stack developed by Viettel replaces what operators would traditionally source from vendors like Ericsson or Nokia. Viettel High Tech's in-house team is responsible for critical software components that run on central and distributed units, while Qualcomm supplies the Layer 1 functions on dedicated inline accelerator cards. These accelerators bypass the need for general-purpose CPUs in handling time-sensitive RAN tasks, offering improved performance without compromising on the virtualisation or cloud-native aspects of the deployment. Qualcomm’s Layer 1 is containerised and compatible with cloud platforms from AWS and Red Hat, underlining its open architecture credentials.

Viettel’s use of inline accelerators on this scale is unprecedented. Each site includes an X100 card, making it one of the largest global deployments of this architecture. Outside Vietnam, most virtual RAN deployments rely on Intel’s lookaside model, where the CPU handles much of the processing. Viettel’s decision to go with inline accelerators marks a departure from this norm and showcases a different approach to RAN virtualisation.

The partnership between Viettel and Qualcomm is also expanding beyond Vietnam’s borders. At MWC Barcelona 2025, Viettel High Tech signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Emirates Integrated Telecommunications (du) and its partner High Cloud Technologies. This agreement covers testing and future deployment of both 5G Open RAN and Private Network solutions in the UAE. The initial focus is on evaluating these technologies on du’s network, with potential applications in smart cities, industrial IoT and immersive technologies like AR and VR. This represents the first time Vietnamese-developed 5G equipment is being tested for commercial use outside the country.

The collaboration aligns with the UAE’s digital infrastructure strategy and could open the door to large-scale commercial deployments in the Middle East. Successful trials with du are a key step in Viettel’s broader plan to become a global supplier of advanced telecom infrastructure. Viettel is already present in markets such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Peru, where the 5G rollout is still in early stages. These regions offer opportunities for Viettel to replicate its success at home and extend its influence.

While Viettel’s 5G rollout includes other major vendors, with Ericsson and Nokia reportedly securing two-thirds of the deployment share, the remaining share, driven by Viettel High Tech and Qualcomm, is significant in scale and innovation. The collaboration showcases an alternative model where operators develop critical network software in-house and pair it with silicon from a specialised vendor.

Qualcomm’s contribution is not limited to the distributed units. The company also provides critical components for radio units, including beamforming and signal processing via its QRU and QTR chips. These are integrated into Viettel’s Massive MIMO units, each equipped with 32 transmitters and receivers, enhancing both coverage and capacity. Although the solution appears vertically integrated, Qualcomm continues to validate its Open RAN credentials through efforts such as interoperability work with NEC under the OREX programme in Japan.

Viettel’s approach demonstrates a vertically integrated yet standards-compliant model that leverages in-house development, strategic partnerships, and cloud-native design. It is building a scalable and sustainable 5G infrastructure that supports both domestic and international ambitions. As it rolls out thousands more sites and extends its presence into new markets, Viettel is proving that national champions can innovate at a global level.

Vietnam’s investment in indigenous telecom technology and its collaboration with global partners like Qualcomm is reshaping perceptions of where cutting-edge 5G innovation can originate. With continued momentum in Open RAN, Private Networks, and global expansion, Viettel is now firmly established as a telecoms infrastructure player to watch.

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Tuesday, 22 April 2025

FDD Tri-Band Massive MIMO: Unlocking Sub-3 GHz Potential for 5G Evolution

Huawei has begun commercial deployments of its FDD Tri-Band Massive MIMO solution, focusing on sub-3 GHz spectrum across Africa and several other global markets. Countries such as Nigeria, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire are among the first to benefit, with deployments also expected across Asia Pacific, Central Asia, and Latin America.

This new technology is being positioned to solve two key challenges for mobile operators. First, it tackles the persistent increase in 4G traffic, which continues to grow year on year. Second, it enhances the user experience for 5G services without demanding vast new spectrum allocations. Huawei claims the solution delivers significant performance improvements over the conventional 4T4R setup, including handling almost twice as much 4G traffic during peak times, tripling user-perceived speeds, and halving the use of physical resource blocks.

Underpinning these benefits are innovations like Real Wide Bandwidth and Compact Dipole technologies. These allow multiple FDD bands such as 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.6 GHz to be processed using a shared filter, antenna array, and power amplifier. This not only enables efficient spectrum use but also simplifies site deployments. Huawei reports that 5G network capacity can be boosted up to sevenfold with uplink coverage extended by 8 dB, both of which are especially important as mobile AI services increase the demand for higher uplink bandwidth and wider coverage.

The market conditions in Africa illustrate why this approach is timely. Rapid urbanisation and a large population base have created surging demand for mobile data, leading to congestion and degraded user experience. Many sites already host conventional Massive MIMO technology, but with traffic increasing by 50 percent annually, a more efficient capacity solution is urgently needed.

The broader role of sub-3 GHz FDD spectrum in 5G development is also coming into sharper focus. While early 5G investment emphasised the upper mid-band due to its wide contiguous spectrum, the sub-3 GHz FDD bands now represent a crucial part of the coverage and capacity equation. These bands collectively offer around 100 MHz of paired spectrum and are essential for extending 5G services beyond dense urban centres into suburban and rural areas. Their propagation characteristics provide better in-building penetration and a stronger uplink experience.

Operators have traditionally used these bands to complement mid-band deployments, but case studies suggest they can form the backbone of high-performance networks when optimised correctly. In the Netherlands, for example, delays in mid-band spectrum availability led operators to rely heavily on FDD spectrum. Despite these constraints, they achieved strong data rate and latency performance by tightly integrating 4G and 5G technologies.

One persistent issue is the fragmentation of spectrum across multiple bands, which can complicate radio access network design. Physical site constraints and antenna complexity remain challenges, particularly as physical cell site growth slows. This has led to a push for site simplification through wideband and multiband radio solutions. Many equipment vendors now offer radios that can support three FDD bands within a single unit, often using a shared power amplifier and filter. This not only reduces size and weight but also lowers power consumption and speeds up deployment.

Although Massive MIMO is generally seen as more effective with TDD, Huawei believes its latest advancements in intelligent beamforming and multi-band serving cell configurations can change that narrative. By treating multiple FDD bands as a single carrier and applying advanced beamforming, spectral efficiency can be dramatically improved. According to Huawei, this combination can deliver a tenfold gain in throughput and a 10 dB improvement in coverage compared to standard 4T4R systems.

With the shift toward 5G Advanced on the horizon, operators must get the most out of their existing spectrum assets. Sub-3 GHz FDD spectrum may not be new, but with the right technology, it can provide the performance needed to meet modern data demands and support the next wave of mobile services.

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Tuesday, 4 March 2025

Docomo's COW Setup at Peaceful Park 2024

In support of the Noto Peninsula's recovery, PEACEFUL PARK 2024 took place on July 6-7. NTT Docomo played a key role, both as a co-host and by ensuring robust connectivity for attendees.

To maintain stable communication, Docomo deployed a mobile base station vehicle and "Carry 5G" equipment to cover indoor live venues. Leveraging Massive MIMO technology, they provided a reliable network even in crowded areas. The Docomo booth also showcased their disaster response initiatives, highlighting their commitment to resilient infrastructure.

Events like these not only celebrate community strength but also showcase the importance of adaptive telecom solutions in disaster-affected regions.

The above video shows setting up of the temporary mast, a.k.a. Cell on Wheel at the event.

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Saturday, 16 December 2023

Testing Vodafone UK's Open RAN Deployment Performance

It's been a while since Vodafone selected their UK Open RAN partners. The good news is that according to the press release from Samsung as well as Vodafone UK the rollout has already started. According to the press release, the following partners are involved:

  • Samsung: 4G and 5G radio, including 64T64R Massive MIMO, as well as the software platform.
  • Intel: General Purpose Processor (GPP), acceleration hardware and network interface cards.
  • Keysight: Drive test services using Keysight Nemo Solutions to assure the OpenRAN end-to-end live network performance. Pre-deployment OpenRAN functional and interoperability testing using Keysight Open RAN Architect (KORA) solutions.
  • Dell Technologies: Dell PowerEdge servers designed for cloud-based OpenRAN workloads.
  • Capgemini: Testing partner in Vodafone labs.
  • Wind River: Cloud network platforms (also known as abstraction layer software).

Dr. Peter Clarke, who is an actual medical doctor rather than a PhD, and also a mobile network infrastructure hobbyist, has been featured across our blogs on a regular basis. Recently he took a trip to the coastal town of Torquay, Devon, to see for himself how these Samsung Open RAN networks were performing. Quoting from his LinkedIn post: 

Vodafone UK's Samsung Networks based Open RAN 5G delivers capability and performance to the coastal town of Torquay, Devon, providing a compelling window into the future of radio access architecture. 

The Vodafone spectrum deployed is impressive, illustrating the capability of the Samsung Radios and serving the town well: 90MHz n78 with Massive MIMO on Samsung Active Antenna Units and quad 4G band through Commscope passives.

Throughputs with EN-DC utilising 50MHz n78 carrier were consistently around 500mbps, which for an umbrella site serving a town was pleasing. Field testing video below, in comments, please watch for on the scene testing.

Here is a video from his testing:

I am looking forward to the official results that will hopefully be shared around MWC 2024.

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Tuesday, 27 June 2023

Ericsson's Massive MIMO Handbook(s)

Sometime last year, Ericsson published a detailed Massive MIMO Handbook, which contains two documents:

  • Massive MIMO Handbook
  • Massive MIMO Handbook – Technology Primer

The main purpose of the Massive MIMO Handbook is to provide a guide for how to use Massive MIMO to meet the performance requirements in a 5G mobile networks. It should also provide a guide for how to choose suitable products in typical network deployment scenarios. The handbook shall also briefly explain key aspects of how Massive MIMO works and how the different technology components affect network performance in field.

This handbook primarily targets the Massive MIMO stakeholders in the communications service providers´ organizations. It can also be used by internal Ericsson organizations.

The document focuses on Massive MIMO solutions, including as a means for meeting the performance requirements in the network. Focus is on products operating with time division duplex (TDD) on mid-band spectrum, typically 3.5-3.7 GHz. Conventional radio solutions are also included as an alternative where Massive MIMO is not needed or not cost efficient. Furthermore, emphasis is on the radio solution, i.e. the radio parts and the antenna parts. To keep the document focused and limited in volume, the baseband solution, site solution other than radio parts and the antenna (e.g. power, enclosure, cooling, etc.), transport solutions (backhaul and fronthaul) are not included. High-band (mm Wave) and FDD are not included in this version. The service in focus is mobile broadband (MBB) as this is the dominating service in all mobile networks.

The purpose of Massive MIMO Handbook – Technology Primer is to provide a deeper understanding to how Massive MIMO works, why it works and what performance is achievable in a real network deployment. Many related topics that provide additional insights to the background of Massive MIMO, e.g. antennas and wave propagation, the implications of Massive MIMO, e.g. architecture and implementation and radio requirements are also covered.

The different chapters of the Technology Primer can be read selectively and standalone to deepen knowledge where the reader chooses. The chapters are however organized in a way that they best are read in succession. For example, the chapters: antennas and wave propagation, antenna arrays, multi-antenna technologies, 3GPP solutions, network performance and Massive MIMO features will be better understood if read in a sequence. If readers has a reasonably good understanding of an area from start, they do not need to read everything in these chapters, and rather selectively read what is important to them.

PDF can be downloaded from here.

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Friday, 15 April 2022

ZTE Shows-off New 5G Products and Solutions at MWC 2022

Like all other big vendors, ZTE's booth at MWC 2022 was closed for visitors. They did however create a video explaining all their new products and solutions launched at MWC. Here is a summary from their press release:

ZTE's UniSite NEO, among the new solutions, is the industry’s simplest site solution. Powered by the integrated radio unit OmniUBR Series, it is capable of reducing the radio units from 18 to 5, and supporting a 6-band 3-sector site with only 5 units, thus significantly decreasing site rental cost by up to 57% and delivering 40% lower power consumption. 

Also, ZTE has updated its 5G RAN portfolio with the new-generation Massive MIMO product series. It includes 32TR and 64TR AAUs, up to 192 antenna elements and 320 watt, and introducing the industry's lightest Massive MIMO product weighing 9kg for high traffic site with limited space. ZTE's full scenario product portfolio update wraps up the radio network enhancement and improves the ROI for its operators.

At MWC 2022, ZTE presents an all-in-one 5G private network solution based on the new model of 5G network as a service. This is a one-stop order-to-service package with the pre-integrated software and hardware, as well as converged 4G and 5G networks. The package has the tailor-made network features to empower the digital society. 

ZTE introduces three major types of 5G private network, including the compact cabinet for smart factories with dozens of enterprise applications to be launched on the cloud, single server i5GC for comprehensive campus where applications are more diversified and data security and self-service are mandatory, and embedded MEC for a very limited equipment room and simple application scenarios.

In additon, ZTE has launched VMAX, the accelerator of digital transformation at MWC 2022, to satisfy the increasing complexity of the network O&M, which is regarded as one of the biggest issues for operators.ZTE's VMAX can help improve customer experiences, reduce costs and enhance operating performance.

VMAX is a part of uSmartNet, ZTE's Autonomous Network solution, and changes single-domain operation into all-domain and end-to-end perspective providing One-stop Insight. When network errors occur, VMAX supports cross-domain service self-healing. It gets to the root cause of service problem and customer complaint in minutes with more than 80% location accuracy and efficiency increase by 30%. 

In addition, VMAX can interpret the service intent, output network planning suggestion accurately with minimal intervention. Meanwhile, it provides end-to-end security for different scenarios to protect personal privacy.

Here is the video of their products and solutions

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Friday, 24 December 2021

Nokia back in 5G Game and Vying for Open RAN & 6G Success

Nokia announced their 5G progress at Global Analyst Forum 2021. In a blog post, Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia wrote:

“We bet on the right horse choosing Nokia” a customer shared his feedback in a recent meeting after my update on Nokia’s 5G portfolio. We’ve received similar recognition from other customers too: “Congratulations on the catch-up in 5G,” “We of course monitor our customers’ experience and in Nokia-supplied networks it has been excellent,” “Nokia is back in 5G.”

The new 5G portfolio we’ve launched this year continues our promise to deliver and further improve the performance of our networks:

  • We’ve launched our new AirScale radios, including the industry’s lightest high-power, 400MHz 32TRX Massive MIMO. These radios contribute to our 50 percent reduction in power consumption of Massive MIMO radios from 2019 to 2023.
  • Our AirScale baseband is the industry benchmark for flexibility and capacity. It also comes with significantly improved energy efficiency, reducing the baseband power consumption by up to 75 percent. This also contributes to our commitment to halve base station power consumption by 2023.
  • We’re on track to power our full portfolio with latest ReefShark System-on-Chips by the end of 2022.
  • And this year, we brought together our software to a common development trunk, meaning updates to software from 2G to 5G in a single release, bringing our customers the speed and quality they need.

Where we are now is the result of hard, focused execution on our strategic priority to build 5G technology leadership and improve our portfolio competitiveness over the past three years. Coupled with industry-leading SON and network management, as well as digitalized services boosting the speed and quality of deployments, we have a good racehorse now.

Here is a short video from Tommi:

One of the other interesting area that he covered was on Open RAN, or O-RAN as Nokia prefers to use  it. Quoting from the blog post:

Preparing for the future opportunities starts now. Undoubtedly, one key focus area continues to be Open RAN. Nokia is the leading contributor in the O-RAN Alliance and our new AirScale portfolio is already O-RAN ready, supporting our efforts to develop cloud-based, open approaches to building networks. This is all happening in tight cooperation with our customers like NTT Docomo, or Deutsche Telecom with whom we just announced opening a new open lab "i14y" to accelerate network disaggregation and Open RAN. There are many steps to build the O-RAN ecosystem, and we expect this to develop over the coming years but would not expect real commercial deployments before 2023 (perhaps earlier for some trials).

And of course, no discussion is complete nowadays without mentioning 6G:

Network efficiency and optimization utilizing 4G/5G slicing, AI/ML and continuously improving energy efficiency are also key focus areas as we continue to enhance our offering, on the runway to 5G Advanced and ultimately 6G towards the end of the decade. Although it’s early stages on the 6G journey, we envision it to bring massively more capacity, adaptive AI interfaces and deep learning techniques. But when the time of 6G comes, we should not assume we’ll get to start from a “clean slate”. Our customers will want to ensure a seamless evolution of architectures, chipsets, software and 5G/6G platforms. It’s going to be an exciting evolution from 5G to 6G.

The slides from the Analyst Forum is available here.

Matthew Baker, Head of Radio Physical Layer and Co-existence Standardisation at Nokia recently spoke about Nokia's vision of 5G-Advanced. Here is his talk:

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