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DesignandTestChallengesfor8x8MIMODevicesforLTE Advanced
Wed,12/18/20132:52pm byJimLitz,MarketingManager,AgilentTechnologies LISTEDUNDER: Boards&Modules|EmbeddedSystems&Networking

Gettoday'sdesignengineeringheadlinesandnewsSignupnow! Mobilenetworkoperatorsarecontinuallyupgradingtheirnetworkstomatchthedemandfor increasedcapacityandavailability. Fromlessthantwopercentin2011,mobiledatawillcomprise10percentofallnetworktrafficby2016. Theprojectedrisefollowstheforecastedincreaseinsmartphonesandtabletcomputersaccessingdata intensivestreamingvideoandenhancedsocialmediaapplications,andageneralincreaseinInternet activityfrommobiledevicesonlineretailandlocationbasedservices,forexample. By2016,thereareexpectedtobecloseto20billionmobilenetworkdevices,rangingfromsimple machinetomachine(M2M)sensorstopowerfulPCs,andsomeofthesewillbeinmissioncritical applicationsthatrequireabsolutenetworkreliability.Mobilenetworkoperatorsarecontinuallyupgrading theirnetworkstomatchthisdemandforincreasedcapacityandavailability. Inthemobileworld,capacitygainscomeprimarilyfromthreevariables:morespectrum,better modulationefficiency,andbetterfrequencyreusethroughaprogressivelydensernetworktopologywith smallercellsizes.Thefourthgenerationnetworkscurrentlybeingbuiltusemorefrequencybandsthan previousgenerationsandcanusebroaderchannelbandwidths.However,evenwiththeincreased spectrummadeavailablefromtheshutdownofanalogtelevisionservices,networkoperatorswill struggletomeetlongtermdemandforcapacity. SpatialMultiplexing&MIMO Onesolutiontoincreasedcapacitywithoutfurtheradditionalspectrumisspatialmultiplexingormultiple inputmultipleoutput(MIMO),whichallowsforthesimultaneoustransmissionofmorethanonestreamof datainthesametimeandfrequency.Torecap,3GPPspecificationsdescribethechannelbetween transmitterandreceiverintermsofinputsandoutputstoandfromit:atransmittersuppliesinput(s)to thechannel,andareceivertakesoutput(s)fromit. FirstcommercializedinWirelessLANspecificationIEEE802.11nwithtypicallytwospatialstreams,both thedownlink3GPPspecificationsforLTEAdvancedand802.11acforWLANnowspecifyupto8x8MIMO,

or8separatestreams.Inbothcases,thegoalistoincreasebothoverallcapacityandthedataratethat asingleusercanexpectfromthesystem. LTEcanusetransmitdiversity(multipleinput,singleoutput(MISO))andreceivediversity(singleinput, multipleoutput(SIMO))aswellasbeamforming,eitheraloneorincombinationwithMIMO.ForLTEand LTEAdvanced,successive3GPPstandardsreleasesincreasetransmissioncomplexity,beginningwith release8,whichintroducedtransmissionmode7(TM7),whichsupportssinglelayerbeamforming. Release9addedTM8,whichsupportsduallayerbeamforming(i.e.2x2MIMOwithbeamforming)and Release10addsTM9,whichsupportsupto8x8MIMOwithbeamforming. Thereareatotalofninedifferentdownlinktransmissionmodes,eachofwhichissuitedtodifferent channelandnoiseconditions. CarrierAggregation AnotheroptionfornetworkoperatorsthatisfirstspecifiedinRelease10andisenhancedinlaterreleases iscarrieraggregation(CA).Whileoperatorstypicallydonthavethecontiguousspectrumtotake advantageofLTEsmaximumtransmissionbandwidthof100MHz,theymayhaveotherspectrum available.CAallowsthemtostitchtogetheranumberofRFchannelsknownascomponentcarriers,to enhancedownlinkcapacity. Release10allowsoneadditionalcomponentcarrier,whichcanbeeitheradjacenttotheprimarychannel orinadifferentfrequencyband.Laterreleasesallowatotalof5downlinkcomponentcarrierswitha maximumof20MHzeachforanaggregated100MHzbandwidth.Thesecanbeadjacenttotheprimary carrier,useaseparatefrequencyinthesameband,orbeinadifferentfrequencyband.Eachcomponent carriercanhaveitsownchannelattributes:diversity,beamforming,andupto8x8MIMO,further compoundingdesignandtestcomplexityparticularlyoftheUEreceiver. AdoptedTerminology Theterms"codeword," "layer,""precoding," and"beamforming" haveeachbeenadopted specificallyforLTEto refertosignalsand theirprocessing.The termsshownin Figure 1areusedinthe followingways: Codeword:A codeword representsuser databeforeitis formattedfor transmission.In Figure1:ConceptualdiagramofadoptedLTEterms.AllCredit:AgilentTechnologies themostcommon caseofsingleuser MIMO(SUMIMO),uptotwocodewordsaresenttoasinglehandsetoruserequipment(UE). Layer(orstream):ForMIMO,atleasttwolayersmustbeused.UptofourforLTEandeightforLTE Aareallowed.Thenumberoflayersisalwayslessthanorequaltothenumberofantennaports. Thereceiverneedsatleastasmanyantennaportsasthenumberoflayers. Precoding:Precodingmodifiesthelayersignalsbeforetransmission.Thismaybedonefordiversity,

beamforming,orspatialmultiplexing.TheMIMOchannelconditionsmayfavoronelayer(data stream)overanother.Ifthespatialmultiplexingisclosedloop,theUEprovidesaprecodingmatrix indicator(PMI)sotheeNBcancrosscouplethestreamstocounteracttheimbalanceinthechannel. Eigenbeamforming(beamforming):Beamformingmodifiesthetransmitsignalstogivethebest carriertonoiseinterferenceplusnoiseratio(CINR)attheoutputofthechannel,normallyby maximizingantennagaininthedirectionofaparticularUE.Itmayalsobesettominimizegainin thedirectionofasecondUEwhichismanagedbyanotherbasestation(eNB).See Figure2. DesignChallenges Circuitdesignstarts witheffectivesystem simulation.Toolsthat canmodeltheentire transmit/receivechain areimportantto shorteningthedesign processandgettingnew productstomarket faster.Akeyelementof simulationistheability tocomprehensively Figure2:BeamformingimprovesCNIRbymatchingantennagaintoUEposition. modelthecompleteRF environmentinawaythatallowsrepetitive,deterministicdesignevaluation.Thenextstepistomerge simulationandrealworldsystemelements. Forthetransmitterwithmultiplesignals,theconcerniswithcrosscouplingwithintheblockdiagram. Testingneedstoverifythatthesignalsarecodedanddecodedcorrectly.PoweramplifierRFperformance mustmeetspecificationsbecauseexcessdistortionwillcreatesignalsthatfalloutsidethechanneland causeinterferencetootherchannels.Newchallengesincludemeasuringamplifierperformanceunder differentoperatingconditions:envelopetrackingreducespowerconsumptiontomatchsignal characteristics,reducingUEbatterydrainandincreasingtalktime.(Formoreonenvelopetracking,see AgilentApplicationNotes59911463ENand59910797EN.) Signalanalyzersneedtobeabletopickoutthecorrectsignalinthespectrumandtodemodulateand decodethatsignal.Transmittermeasurementsmustbeabletolookatthespectrumindetailtoseeif interferenceisbeinggenerated.Agilents89600VectorSignalAnalyzer(VSA)isanexampleofa measurementsolutionthatgivesanindepthviewoftransmittercharacteristicsformanydifferent wirelesstechnologies,includingboththeFDDandTDDvariantsofLTE,andtheaggregatedcarrier scenariosofLTEAdvanced.Networkanalyzersgivetherequiredinsightintotheperformanceofpower amplifiersandthequalityoftheRFchaincomponents.

Figure3:Exampleof8x8MIMOdemodulationwithAgilentVSA.

Receivertestingneedssignalgenerationthatcancreateawiderangeofscenariosincludingfadingand interference.Thereceiverneedstorecovermultiplesimultaneoussignalsandadequatelydemodulateand decodethem(Figure3).Testingneedstoensuretheperformanceofallthecomponentswithintheblock diagram,sotheoveralldesignmeetstheneedsofreallifeconditions,includingdynamicfadingand interference.

Figure4:UEreferencesignalsforreleases8to10.

AnotherimportantpointthatcanbeconfusingisthatMIMOineachofitstransmissionmodesuses specificantennaports.MIMOdoesrequireaminimumoftwophysicalantennas,butanumberofantenna portsmaysharethesamephysicalantenna.Eachantennaporthasitsownsignalprocessing functionality,whichseparatesthestreamsbasedontheUEreferencesignalsdefinedforeach transmissionmode(Figure4).

Lookingatsolutions,designsystemssuchasAgilentsSystemVueallowtheexportofsimulatedsignalsto ahardwareblockandimportationofitsrealworldoutputstodownstreamsimulation.Forexample,its possibletofullyemulatean8x8MIMOchannelandtestanewreceiverunderthemoststressfulof scenarios.UsingafullycodeddatasourcemeanstestingcanextendthroughtheRFchannelrighttothe receiversfinaldecodingprocesses. ThesysteminFigure5combinesSystemVuesimulationtoolswithsignalgenerators,multichannel receiver,andvectorsignalanalyzertoprovideanoverallsystemtestsolutionfortheevaluationofboth transmitterandreceivercharacteristicsfordesignanddevelopmentof8x8MIMOdevices. DesigningandtestingLTEdevicesgetsmorecomplicatedwitheachrevisionofthe3GPPstandards.More frequencybandsandmorechannelbandwidths,combinedwithMIMO,diversity,andbeamforming techniquesforeachchannel,makenewdevicedevelopmentachallenge.Testandmeasurement solutionsthatallowthedeepinsightrequiredfordeviceandsystemperformancearekeytoreducingthe timeittakestogetnewfunctionalityintothehandsofendusers. ThisarticleoriginallyappearedintheNovember/Decemberprintissue.Clickheretoviewthefullissue.
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