Hybrid OAM Multiplexing using Butler Matrices

toward over 100 Gbit/s Wireless Transmission

Hirofumi Sasaki Yasunori Yagi Takayuki Yamada
NTT Network Innovation Laboratories, NTT Network Innovation Laboratories, NTT Network Innovation Laboratories,
NTT Corporation NTT Corporation NTT Corporation
Yokosuka, Japan Yokosuka, Japan Yokosuka, Japan
hirofumi.sasaki.uw@hco.ntt.co.jp yasunori.yagi.zc@hco.ntt.co.jp takayuki.yamada.zb@hco.ntt.co.jp
2020 IEEE Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps) | 978-1-7281-7307-8/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/GCWkshps50303.2020.9367490

Tomoki Semoto Doohwan Lee

NTT Network Innovation Laboratories, NTT Network Innovation Laboratories,
NTT Corporation NTT Corporation
Yokosuka, Japan Yokosuka, Japan
tomoki.semoto.zb@hco.ntt.co.jp doohwan.lee.yr@hco.ntt.co.jp

Abstract—This paper presents a hybrid analog-digital
architecture design of orbital angular momentum (OAM)
multiplexing transmission system. Adequate function allocation to
analog and digital processing can reduce the amount of digital
signal processing and device expenses, so we implemented
wideband Butler matrices with uniform circular arrays (UCAs),
which were analog components in our hybrid system worked as
discrete Fourier transform (DFT) processors to generate and
separate OAM waves. Then, we introduced the mode isolation
index to evaluate the performance. Consequently, our
implemented Butler matrices have roughly 20 dB modes isolation,
and can generate five and seven OAM modes simultaneously on 28
GHz and 40 GHz bands, respectively. Lastly, we summarize our
experimental demonstrations including more than 100 Gbit/s
wireless transmission using the Butler matrices on 28 GHz and 40
GHz bands.
Keywords—orbital angular momentum (OAM); Butler matrix;
uniform circular array; 28 GHz, 40 GHz
I. INTRODUCTION
The data traffic of wireless communications is growing
exponentially, so high-capacity wireless transmission is in great
demand for many scenarios. Generations of wireless networks
have grown and passed on; now, the fifth-generation (5G) is
already looking at commercialization. Furthermore, discussion
related to beyond 5G or sixth-generation (6G) has already started,
and some future visions are presented [1]–[3]. The aggregated
wireless transmission data rate in these networks increases up to
1,000 times larger as the generations migrate for the last decade,
and the 1 Tbit/s class is expected in the next generation of
wireless networks [4], [5]. Consequently, the capacity of
backhaul and fronthaul connections for the networks has to be
improved accordingly, and the wireless transmission needs to
suit scenarios that occur due to the deployment and maintenance
of base stations.
Orbital angular momentum (OAM) is a physical parameter
of electromagnetic (EM) waves that has drawn a lot of attention
towards high-capacity point-to-point (PtP) wireless
communication systems. The OAM has infinite degrees of
freedom (DoF), so it has great potential to increase the capacity.
The OAM is one of the orthogonal bases, and the orthogonality
comes from spatial phase distribution of a spatially expanded
beam, so the OAM multiplexing can be categorized in space
division multiplexing. The OAM propagates as a beam suitable
for PtP application. Moreover, we can expect mobility support
to a certain extent. Some institutes have regarded this physical
property of the EM waves as a technical issue in the next
generation of wireless networks [2], [3]. Research on applying
this physical parameter for communications to multiplex data
streams has been reported on in both the optical and radio
communication fields [6]–[11]. To show the feasibility of OAM
multiplexing, experiments were conducted in both a shielded
room and a field environment [12]–[17]. We have also
demonstrated several OAM multiplexing transmission
experiments on 28 GHz bands and a 40 GHz band with a
physical layer data rate of more than 20 Gbit/s and maximum
200 Gbit/s under 100 m [19]–[22].
We consider that one of the strengths of OAM multiplexing
is that it only requires fixed processing so that analog devices
can operate the role. There have been studies on methods for
generating and separating OAM waves using analog devices
such as holographic plates [14], spiral phase plates [15], [16] and
uniform circular arrays (UCAs). They can effectively reduce the
amount of digital signal processing and radio frequency (RF)
chains including amplifiers, mixers, digital-analog converters
(DACs) compared to applying standard full digital multiple
input multiple output (MIMO) technologies.
In this paper, we show a hybrid analog-digital architecture
for OAM multiplexing using UCAs. Moreover, we show the
detail of our implemented Butler matrices that are one of the key
analog components in our hybrid system for OAM wave’s
generation and separation. Lastly, we show a summary of our
experimental demonstrations including more than 100 Gbit/s
wireless transmission using the Butler matrices.

978-1-7281-7307-8/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE

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 II. HYBRID SYSTEM MODEL AND DESIGN
A. Hybrid analog-digital architecture
OAM is an orthogonal basis of EM beams produced by the
phase distribution for the circumferential direction in a two-
dimensional polar coordinate system on a plane vertical to the
propagation axis. The beams with different OAM modes can be
approximately generated and separated simultaneously using a
UCA with a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) processing, and
they are orthogonal as long as they propagate coaxially.
UCAs based OAM multiplexing system could be analyzed
with standard narrow band MIMO theory [11]. In the case of
UCAs placed opposite each other, the antenna array
configuration is axisymmetric so that the channel matrix
becomes circulant by itself. When the number of antenna
elements in a UCA is defined as n, the circulant matrix is
diagonalized by the m × n DFT matrix,
ʹߨሺ‫ ݕ‬െ ͳሻ
ࡰ௫ǡ௬ ൌ ‡š’ ቆെ݆ ቆ ቇ ݇ሺ‫ݔ‬ሻቇ Ȁξ݊ǡ
݊
as
Fig. 1. Schematic chart of OAM-MIMO multiplexing system.
Fig. 2. Hybrid analog-digital architecture of OAM-MIMO multiplexing system.
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ࡴ ൌ ࡰࡴ ઱ࡰǡ (2)
‫ߣۓ‬௞ሺଵሻ ૙ ۗ
ۖ ߣ௞ሺଶሻ ۖ
઩ൌ઱ൌ ǡ (3)
‫۔‬ ‫ڰ‬ ۘ
ۖ ૙ ߣ௞ሺ௠ሻ ۖ
‫ە‬ ۙ
where the suffix x and y indicate indexes of row and column in
a matrix, respectively. Suffix k denotes a value of OAM mode
correspond to x-th row vector in the DFT matrix, and m denotes
the number of utilized OAM modes (݉ ൑ ݊). H and  denote
the channel matrix between Rx and Tx UCA and diagonal matrix,
respectively.  denotes the equivalent channel matrix including
DFT processing. The Butler matrix is an analog circuit that can
process DFT calculations [23], [24], so we used it for OAM
mode generation and separation in our system. Then, we need to
prepare only m sets of RF chains, so we can reduce the number
of RF chains by selecting OAM modes for multiplexing.
Furthermore, we extended the OAM multiplexing
(1) technology to the OAM-MIMO multiplexing technology, which
efficiently combines the advantages of OAM multiplexing and
MIMO-based digital signal processing with concentrically
arranged multiple UCAs (Multi-UCA), as shown in Fig. 1. Here,
the center antenna element only contributes for OAM mode 0
because the other OAM modes do not have energy at this point
[4]. The channel between Multi-UCAs is a combination of
circulant matrixes, and the equivalent channel matrix  that
includes DFT processing becomes a block diagonal matrix
઱ ૙
‫ ۍ‬௞ሺଵሻ ‫ې‬
‫ێ‬ ઱௞ሺଶሻ ‫ۑ‬
઩ൌ‫ێ‬ ‫ۑ‬ǡ (4)
‫ێ‬ ‫ڰ‬ ‫ۑ‬
‫ ۏ‬૙ ઱௞ሺ௠ሻ ‫ے‬
where ઱௞ denotes a by b MIMO channel matrix in OAM mode
k, and a and b represent the number of Rx and Tx UCAs. By
using concentrically arranged UCAs, the orthogonality between
OAM modes is maintained, and an isolated MIMO channel can
be created in each OAM mode because the interference between
the MIMO channels is zero, as in (4).
Based on the above, we designed a hybrid analog-digital
architecture of OAM-MIMO multiplexing as shown in Fig. 2.
In the system, the Butler matrices operate OAM modes
generation and separation. At the transmitter side as Fig. 2, the
number of output ports is equal to the number of antenna
elements n in a UCA, and the number of input ports is equal to
the number of utilized OAM modes m, which is equal to or
smaller than n. Therefore, the number of RF chains are reduced
equal to the product of the number of utilized OAM modes and
the number of UCAs. Consequently, the size of equivalent
channel matrix as in (4) becomes small as well that drastically
reduce the amount of digital signal processing for channel
equalization.
B. Analog signal processing
As mentioned in section A, adequate function allocation to
analog and digital signal processing can reduce device expenses
and the amount of digital signal processing. In our OAM-MIMO
multiplexing system, we use Butler matrices to generate and
separate OAM waves. Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of an 8×8
Butler matrix. The Butler matrix can process DFT calculations
with 3dB couplers (/2 hybrid coupler) and phase shifters.
The Butler matrices have been originally used for analog
beamforming [24], however, our use case requires much high
accuracy to generate orthogonal basis. Additionally, we need to
put phase shifters surrounded by a red dotted frame in Fig. 3 to
generate integral OAM modes. To evaluate the performance of
the Butler matrices, we introduce the “mode isolation” index.
The DFT matrix is a part of or all of a unitary matrix, so the next
formula (5) is established.
ࡰ ൈ ࡰࡴ ൌ ࡵ,
where I is the identity matrix. Then, a response matrix ࡰԢ of the
actual Butler matrices can be expressed as
ࡰᇱ ൌ ߙሺࡰ ൅ ષሻ,
where the real number ߙ represents loss factor, and the matrix
ષ represents the deviation factor from ideal operation that
causes inter-mode interference.
Then, we define mode isolation vector ળ as a ratio of
desired mode’s signal power to inter-mode interference as in (7).
Fig. 3. Block diagram of a 8x8 Butler matrix.
(a) (b)
Fig. 4. Implemented Butler matrices on (a) a 28 GHz band and (b) a 40 GHz band.
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૛ ૛
ળ࢐ ൌ หࢄ࢐ǡ࢐ ห Ȁ ቄሺࢄ ൈ ࢄࡴ ሻ࢐ǡ࢐ െ หࢄ࢐ǡ࢐ ห ቅǡ (7)
where ࢄ ൌ ࡰԢ ൈ ࡰࡴ . Incidentally, the mode isolation is
independent of the loss factor. As the definition of mode
isolation implies, the higher the mode isolation is, the lower the
inter-mode interference and energy loss due to the leakage to
unutilized OAM modes are. Thus, if the Butler matrixes works
ideally (ષ is zero matrix), there is no inter-mode interference
and the mode isolation becomes infinite. Here the response
matrix ࡰԢ would be obtained by measuring S-parameter of the
Butler matrices.
Fig.4 (a) shows a wideband 5×16 Butler matrix working on
a 28 GHz band for the DFT processing to generate and separate
five OAM modes (OAM mode 0, ±1, ±2), and Fig.4 (b) shows a
wideband 7×16 Butler matrix working on a 40 GHz band to
generate and separate seven OAM modes (OAM mode 0, ±1, ±2,
(5) ±3). Fig 5 and 6 show measured mode isolation results of some
implemented wideband Butler matrices for a 28 GHz band and
a 40 GHz band shown in Fig. 4 (a) and (b), respectively. We
could obtain roughly 20 dB mode isolation over a wide band by
designing the circuit layout to be symmetric and wiring length
(6) to be uniform as possible.
Fig. 5. Measured OAM mode isolation of a Butler matrix on a 28 GHz band.
Fig. 6. Measured OAM mode isolation of a Butler matrix on a 40 GHz band.
 III. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
We designed and constructed end-to-end proof-of-concept
OAM-MIMO multiplexing experimental systems including the
Butler matrices in a shielded room and actual field environments.
Table I shows the experimental setups, and Table II shows the
specific parameters of our experimental setups. An offline
digital signal processing algorithm was implemented in our
system, as in [20]. Then, we applied an adaptive modulation and
coding (AMC) algorithm in which the modulation order and
coding rate were adaptively determined depending on the signal-
to-noise ratio (SNR) values. Incidentally, the isolation between
polarizations was sufficiently lower than the noise floor, so the
inter-polarization interference was actually negligible in our
experimental system.
Fig. 8 shows experimental results of physical layer data rate
under the conditions. Firstly, two high data rate wireless
transmission were shown under condition I and III. We have
achieved 200 Gbit/s at a distance of 10 m on a 28 GHz band, and
119 Gbit/s at a distance of 100 m on a 40 GHz band, that are one
of the highest data rate records on millimeter wave wireless
communications. Moreover, in the case of condition II, the data-
rate are relatively lower than the others are because the
bandwidth and polarization are limited, but our OAM-MIMO
system works well regardless of the distance between the
antennas. From the results, the performance of our implemented
wideband Butler matrices was enough to achieve high data rate
OAM multiplexing transmission. Additionally, the hybrid
architecture reduced the number of RF chains and the equivalent
channel matrix size to roughly 1/3 and 1/10 of conventional full-
digital MIMO in our experimental systems on 28 GHz bands,
respectively, that realized large reduction of device expenses and
the amount of digital signal processing. Naturally, similar results
could be obtained on a 40 GHz band.

TABLE I. EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS

Condition No. I II III

Frequency 27.5-29.5 GHz 27.5-28.25 GHz 39.5-41.0 GHz

Bandwidth 2.0 GHz 750 MHz 1.5 GHz

–3, –2, –1, 0,

OAM mode –2, –1, 0, 1, 2 –2, –1, 0, 1, 2
1, 2, 3

Transmission
–13 dBm/stream –13 dBm/stream 3 dBm/stream
power

The number of 9-14

21 15
Streams (adaptive)

The number of
21 21 15
RF chains

The number of
65 65 33
antenna elements
Fig. 7. An experimental setup of our prototype in a field environment.
Polarization V&H V V&H

Distanse 10 m 20-100 m 100 m

Environment Shielded room Field Field

TABLE II. COMMON PARAMETERS OF OUR EXPERIMENTAL SETUPS

Parameters Value

Number of 16 elements/UCA
antenna elements +1 element at center

Error correction LDPC & BCH (DVB-S.2)

Prepared 1/4, 1/3, 2/5, 1/2, 3/5, 2/3,

LDPC code rate 3/4, 4/5, 5/6, 8/9, 9/10

Equalization Algorithm SC-FDE [25]

Frame length 64,800 bits

Fig. 8. Experimental results of data rate under several conditions.
Modulation QPSK - 256QAM

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 IV. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
We designed a hybrid analog-digital OAM-MIMO
multiplexing architecture for over 100 Gbit/s wireless
transmission, in which functions were adequately allocated to
analog and digital processing. In the architecture, analog parts
performed OAM modes generation and separation using UCAs
and the Butler matrices that operated DFT processing. Then, we
actually designed and implemented the Butler matrices for 28
GHz and 40 GHz bands considering the circuit layout to be
symmetric and wiring length to be uniform as possible, and
obtained roughly 20 dB mode isolation that was satisfactory
characteristics for OAM-MIMO multiplexing.
Moreover, we constructed experimental systems on 28 GHz
and 40 GHz bands, demonstrated more than 100 Gbit/s wireless
transmission under 100 m and showed distance characteristics
of OAM-MIMO multiplexing. Additionally, the hybrid
architecture reduced the number of RF chains and the equivalent
channel matrix size to roughly 1/3 and 1/10 of conventional full-
digital MIMO respectively in our experimental systems on 28
GHz bands, that realized large reduction of device expenses and
the amount of digital signal processing. Naturally, similar results
could be obtained on a 40 GHz band. Our next milestones are
hardware design for over 1 Tbit/s wireless transmission on over
100 GHz band and real-time operation of our digital signal
processing.
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