LTE Smart Massive MIMO Solution

Technical Poster

This technical poster provides only a general overview and does not constitute any offers or commitments. For detailed
information, see the product or feature documentation delivered with the software.

Application Scenarios of Smart Massive MIMO

Smart Massive MIMO is a key solution to address the challenges rising from the capacity and user
experience of the 4G network. It includes a series of FDD and TDD massive MIMO features. It is
applicable to high-rise buildings and hotspot areas.

Skyscrapers in CBDs Squares and stadiums Stations and CBDs Dense urban areas
and campuses

What Is Massive MIMO?

Massive MIMO uses large-scale antenna arrays, 3D beamforming, and spatial multiplexing to
significantly improve spectral efficiency, system capacity, and user experience.

Traditional MIMO Massive MIMO

BBU+RRU+Antenna BBU+AAU

AAU FDD:
Antennas 32T32R AAU
AAU
TDD:
32T32R/64T64R AAU
FDD:
Up to 4T4R RRUs
RRU
TDD: Unlike traditional MIMO, massive
MIMO uses active antenna units
Up to 8T8R RRUs
(AAUs) that integrate RF
BBU BBU modules and antennas to reduce
feeder loss and installation
workload.
 3D Beamforming Spatial Multiplexing

Horizontal beams Vertical beams SU-MIMO MU-MIMO

RB RB Pairing
配对
resources resources

Beams are narrower and energy

is more centralized. Different UEs are allocated Paired UEs are allocated the
Beams can be dynamically adjusted in different resource block same RB resources, increas-
horizontal and vertical dimensions, (RB)resources. ing system capacity.
improving coverage in high-rise scenarios.

Key Technologies of FDD Massive MIMO

Appropriate massive MIMO technologies can be selected for UEs based on the TM9 penetration
rate, which equals the proportion of UEs that support TM9 on the network.

Low TM9 penetration rate High TM9 penetration rate

Static Multiple Beam (SMB) TM4 UEs Dynamic Massive Beam (DMB) TM9 UEs

Intelligent beam scheduling TM4+ TM9

Intelligent beam shaping Massive MIMO for SCells

Massive MIMO uplink coverage boost Precise beamforming
Performance Improvement for TM4 UEs Performance Improvement for TM9 UEs

1 SMB
Static Multiple Beam (SMB) enables AAU-based beamforming. It generates more than one
fixed beam on the horizontal and vertical planes to provide different cell coverage. UEs can be
independently scheduled in each beam. Time-frequency resources are shared among beams to
implement spatial multiplexing, increasing system capacity.
Beam Split Resource Multiplexing
AAU-based beam shaping generates multiple SMB is used for capacity expansion for hotspots.
fixed static cell-specific reference signal (CRS) UEs in different beams are scheduled inde-
beams within the coverage area. The coverage pendently. Time-frequency resources are shared
area of a beam is a sector split cell, and each between beams to improve cell capacity.
cell is configured with an independent PCI.
Traditional MIMO Resource multiplexing
Based on CRS beams, PDSCH beamforming is
performed in the vertical plane according to
the channel information reported by UEs.

Typical beam split scenarios

Scheduling UEs Scheduling UEs

in sequence in parallel
Coverage Enhancement
Massive MIMO with four split beams has the same coverage as 2T2R MIMO when the total power
remains unchanged.
Coverage of split beams
Coverage of split beams (after enhancement),
Coverage of 2T2R MIMO (before enhancement) a 6 dB improvement

TM4 weight scheme: TM4 weight scheme:

default mode coverage mode 1 or 2
2T2R coverage: two CRS ports and one cell 32T32R coverage: two CRS ports and four cells

2 DMB
Dynamic Massive Beam (DMB) dynamically generates multiple dedicated beams for TM9 UEs in a
massive MIMO cell. Multiple orthogonal TM9 UEs can be jointly scheduled among dedicated
beams. That is, these UEs can be allocated the same time-frequency resources in a scheduling
period, implementing spatial multiplexing.
UE-Level Dedicated Beams
DMB uses 32-antenna receive diversity in the uplink and beamforming in the downlink to form a
sector split cell. In this cell, the eNodeB provides UE-level dedicated beams for TM9 UEs for data
and DMRS transmission.
DMB UE-level dedicated beam generation

PDSCH beam eNodeB TM9 UE

The UE sends SRS.
CRS beam The eNodeB sends CSI-RS.
The UE reports a PMI.
The eNodeB The eNodeB transmits
generates a data and DMRS in
precoding matrix. the dedicated beam.
The UE demodulates data
signals based on DMRS.

MU-MIMO
A maximum of 16 data streams are supported, 16 data
and UEs in dedicated beams can be allocated streams
the same time-frequency resources and scheduled
simultaneously, improving spectral efficiency,
cell capacity, and user experience. on
i v isi g
n
e d lexi
m
Ti ulti p
m

Frequency division multiplexing

3 Intelligent Beam Scheduling
Basic Function
Intelligent beam scheduling provides SMB gains for TM4 UEs and DMB gains for TM9 UEs through
joint scheduling among multiple cells when the TM9 penetration rate is low. Among these UEs,
TM9 UEs will obtain higher gains.

TM4 UE
TM9 UE

Only TM4 UEs obtain Only TM9 UEs obtain TM4 UEs obtain SMB gains
SMB gains. DMB gains. and TM9 UEs obtain DMB gains.

Inter-Cell Power Sharing Inter-Carrier Power Sharing

Power is shared between dynamic shared cells, Power is dynamically shared between carriers
improving downlink user experience. to increase the downlink user-perceived rate.
Power
Before activation After activation
Before
OFF ON
activation Power Power
OFF

Cell 1 Cell 2 Cell 3 Cell 4

Power
After
activation
ON
Sector split Sector split Sector split Sector split
Cell 1 Cell 2 Cell 3 Cell 4 group 1 group 2 group 1 group 2

TM9 Beam Interference Management TM9 Mobility Evaluation

Interference is coordinated between TM4 and
TM9 UEs and between TM9 UEs, improving the
overall network performance.
Turning on the TM9 mobility evaluation switch
in low-speed mobility scenarios can shorten the
delay in TM9 reconfiguration and increase the
proportion of UEs for which TM9 takes effect.
Before activation After activation
OFF ON

TM9-capable UE access TM9-capable UE access

or handover to a cell or handover to a cell

Mobility evaluation
This beam causes strong interfer-
ence, and therefore no data is
transmitted in this beam. TM9 reconfiguration TM9 reconfiguration

Joint Scheduling
In beam split scenarios, resources and power are allocated to multiple cells and joint scheduling is
performed among these cells, improving downlink cell capacity and user experience. Inter-cell
MU-MIMO is implemented when TM9 UEs need to be scheduled in multiple cells.

Pairing
4 Intelligent Beam Shaping
The number of beams, directions, and widths are fixed in the beam weight database file for SMB.
When multiple beams differ greatly in UE distribution, the intelligent beam shaping function can be
used to adaptively adjust the number of beams, directions, widths, and power settings. In addition,
this function supports uneven power allocation between beams and generation of staggered beams,
improving user experience.
Traditional beam shaping Intelligent beam shaping

Adaptive Adjustment of the Width, Direction, and Power Values of Beams

Intelligent beam shaping obtains the actual UE and traffic distribution in a cell based on SRS
measurement and reciprocity between uplink and downlink. It periodically adjusts the width,
direction, and power values of static multiple beams.
UE distribution Beamwidth and direction
Beam power adjustment
estimation adjustment
Estimates UE distribution based Adjusts the beamwidths and Adjusts beam power by
on the angle of arrival (AoA). azimuths appropriately, and appropriately setting the CRS
determines the optimal beams. power, PDSCH Pa, and PDSCH Pb.

N
UE

AoA

Beamwidth Azimuth
Massive MIMO antenna arrays adjustment adjustment

Unequal Power Allocation Between Beams

Equal power allocation is no longer mandatory, and the power of massive MIMO cells can be
configured more flexibly. In traffic imbalance scenarios, power can be adjusted to optimize power
allocation, increasing the downlink cell capacity and improving user experience in heavy-load cells.

Port0 Port0

Port1 Port1

Port2 Port2

Port3 Port3

Beam0 Beam1 Beam2 Beam3 Beam0 Beam1 Beam2 Beam3

40W 40W 40W 40W 160W 20W 80W 40W 20W 160W
Beam Number Adjustment
This function adjusts the number of sector split cells in a sector based on network load, allowing
for switching between SMB and DMB.

Load Load
increasing decreasing

Generation of Staggered Beams

If multiple massive MIMO carriers are deployed for a sector, they initially use the same beam
azimuth and width after the sector is split. Then, these parameters can be adjusted to generate
staggered beams based on UE distribution.

The UE is out of the coverage area. The UE is in the coverage area.

F1 F1
AAU
F2 F2

Inter-Sector Beam Coordination

Sector coverage areas are adjusted to cover sector edges.

Sector 2 Sector 2
1
tor
Sec

Se
cto
r1
or 3
Sector 3 Sect

Sector loads are transferred from heavy-load sectors to light-load sectors.

Secto Secto
1 r2 1 r2
or or
Sect S ect

Sector 3 Sector 3

5 Precise Beamforming
If the TM9 UE channel information obtained by the eNodeB is different from the actual channel
information, the beamforming gain decreases, affecting MU-MIMO pairing and interference
mitigation performance. Therefore, precise beamforming is introduced.
Weight Correction Sub-band Beamforming
To compensate for the inaccuracy of feedback Enables UEs to report sub-band information,
about FDD downlink channels, this function improving the accuracy of downlink PMI-based
adjusts weights based on uplink channel weights, downlink channel information, and
measurement and PMI feedback. This reduces interference cancellation.
inter-UE interference and improves cell capaci-
ty and user experience.

...
Beamforming weights
are generated based on
wideband PMIs and
The eNodeB selects the optimal narrow
therefore have low
beam and adjusts the beam
precision.
to point at the UE.
...
Beamforming weights
are generated based on
sub-band PMIs and
therefore have high
precision.

6 Massive MIMO for SCells

MU-MIMO for SCells
In intelligent beam scheduling scenarios, uplink measurement is not performed in the secondary
cells (SCells) of a UE, and therefore the SCells cannot be involved in MU-MIMO pairing in TM9.
Massive MIMO for SCells is introduced to enable the use of uplink measurement information of
the primary cell (PCell) when the PCell and SCells served by the same AAU provide the same
coverage. This way, the SCells can be involved in MU-MIMO pairing, improving the spectral
efficiency and downlink throughput.
PCell SCell PCell SCell

Channel PCell channel

information information
without with reciprocity
reciprocity

Channel Information Accuracy Improvement Based on Reciprocity

In some scenarios, the frequency difference between uplink and downlink channels reaches 400 MHz,
which severely affects the accuracy of beam selection and deteriorates the performance of TM9 UEs.
This function corrects uplink channel information to better match the actual downlink channel
information, increasing the accuracy of CSI-RS resource allocation and improving user experience.
Measured channel information Corrected channel information

Actual channel
information
Measured channel
information

7 Massive MIMO Uplink Coverage Boost

Uplink Full-Antenna Reception
Uplink full-antenna reception enables UE-level 32R (instead of equivalent-cell-level logical 4R) on
the PUSCH, improving the received signal strength and interference suppression capability in the
uplink.
 Cell1 Cell2 Cell1 Cell2
Cell0 Cell3 Cell0 Cell3

Cell-level sharing Cell-level multi-beam antenna UE-level antenna

sharing in the downlink sharing in the uplink

• Downlink: Each sector split cell is • Downlink: Each sector split cell is
equivalent to a logical 4T cell. equivalent to a logical 4T cell.
• Uplink: Each sector split cell is • Uplink: Each sector split cell is
equivalent to a logical 4R cell. equivalent to a 32R cell.

Uplink Joint Scheduling

Uplink joint scheduling between sector split cells staggers RBs allocated to cell edge UEs (CEUs)
whenever possible, reducing the inter-cell interference and improving the uplink experience of
CEUs.

UE1 UE1

UE2
UE3
UE3 UE3
UE4
UE2
UE4

In light-load scenarios, interference is In heavy-load scenarios,

reduced by allocating entirely different interference to CEUs is avoided
resources. preferentially.

Evolution of Key Technologies of TDD Massive MIMO

Mobility Performance Improvement

Basic Functions SRS-expansion-based precise beamforming

Uplink
32-/64-antenna receive diversity Continuous Networking Performance
MU-MIMO Improvement
IRC
SRS interference joint suppression
Downlink PDCCH SDMA
Intelligent parameter selection
MU beamforming
Broadcast beamforming
Traffic beamforming
Experience Improvement Under Light
and Medium Loads
TM9 hybrid precoding
Dual-stream beamforming for non-anten-
na-selection UEs
1 Basic Functions: 32-/64-Antenna Receive Diversity
Received signals are combined to improve the performance of reception and demodulation. The
larger the number of receive antennas, the more notable the combination effect is at the receive
end. The higher the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), the higher the diversity gain.

Signal from Signal from Deep fading suppression

antenna 1 antenna 64 by combining signals

Deep fading Deep fading

2 Basic Functions: Uplink MU-MIMO and Downlink MU Beamforming

Massive MIMO uses large-scale antenna arrays to effectively suppress interference between paired
UEs. The eNodeB selects UEs with low spatial correlation, performs orthogonal weighting, and then
pairs the UEs. The paired UEs use the same time-frequency resources to transmit multiple data
streams, improving system capacity and user experience.
Number of layers

Pairing No pairing

1 UE1 17 UE17 5
4
2 UE2 18 UE18 3
2
1 17 18
RBG
A maximum of 8 UEs can be paired in the uplink.
A maximum of 16 UEs can be paired in the downlink.
UEs that fail to be paired use independent time-frequency resources.

3 Basic Functions: IRC

Interference rejection combining (IRC) improves the baseband reception performance in scenarios
with heavy loads.
Multiple antennas are used to perform IRC, improving the capability of combating spatially
colored interference from neighboring cells.
IRC receivers improve the channel estimation accuracy and demodulation performance of each
UE in uplink MU pairing.

Large overlapping area and high Small overlapping area and low
interference from neighboring cells interference from neighboring cells
 4 Basic Functions: Broadcast Beamforming
The horizontal and vertical beamwidths of broadcast beams can be adjusted with parameters to
meet different requirements for coverage. The horizontal azimuths and vertical tilt angles can also
be adjusted. Different AAU models may be applicable to different coverage scenarios.

Coverage scenario pattern 1

Weight index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Horizontal
beamwidth 90° 65° 45° 25° 90° 65° 45° 25° 15° 65° 45° 25° 15° 100° 100° Max Max
Vertical
beamwidth 8° 8° 8° 8° 17° 17° 17° 17° 17° 35° 35° 35° 35° 8° 17° 8° 17°

Coverage scenario pattern 2

Weight index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Horizontal
beamwidth 90° 65° 45° 25° 90° 65° 45° 25° 15° 65° 45° 25° 15° 100° 100° Max Max
Vertical
beamwidth 6° 6° 6° 6° 12° 12° 12° 12° 12° 25° 25° 25° 25° 6° 12° 6° 12°

5 Basic Functions: Traffic Beamforming (3D Beamforming)

This function can perform both horizontal and vertical beamforming to increase the SINRs of UEs in
different positions, significantly improving vertical coverage for high-rise buildings.

8T8R 64T64R

1. Channel calibration 2. Weight calculation

The eNodeB adjusts the phases, amplitudes,
and delay changes (Delta 1 to Delta 64) of
signals passing through different AAU channels
to be consistent with one another, ensuring the
reciprocity between uplink and downlink
channels.
Combiner
Delta1 Delta64
The eNodeB estimates the characteristics of
PDSCH based on sounding reference signals
(SRSs) from UEs and calculates the beamforming
weights.
3. Weighting and beamforming
The eNodeB weights the to-be-transmitted signals
to form narrow beams towards UEs in different
horizontal and vertical positions.
SRS

TRX1 TRX64
Beamforming

Baseband (for calibration) Massive MIMO

 6 Mobility Performance Improvement: SRS-Expansion-based
Precise Beamforming
As the chip processing capability improves, the number of SRS symbols in a cell increases from
2 to 3,and the number of code division multiplexing (CDM) UEs increases from 4 to 6. This
shortens the average SRS period of UEs, accelerates channel estimation, and improves the
performance of MU beamforming.
Frequency domain

Code domain

Two SRS symbols => Three SRS symbols

Four CDM UEs => Six CDM UEs

Time domain
Original SRS resources
New SRS resources

7 Continuous Networking Performance Improvement: SRS

InterferenceJoint Suppression
This function improves the SRS SINR when multiple massive MIMO cells are continuously deployed.
SRS Resource Allocation Optimization SRS Power Control Optimization
to Mitigate Interference Adjusts the target SRS SINR value for power
Optimizes the SRS resource allocation control to minimize inter-cell interference and
mechanism to reduce inter-cell interference improve the SRS SINR.
and improve the SRS SINR.

UL
UL UL SR
SR RS SR S SR
S
S ULS S UL
Cell2 Cell1 Cell2 Cell1

UE2 UE1 UE2 UE1

When the uplink SRS of UE1 causes severe

SRS interference for UE2, the transmit power of UE1
SRS is decreased to increase the SRS SINR of UE2.

SRS Interference Cancellation (IC)

Reduces or even eliminates the SRS interference of inter- or intra-base-station intra-frequency
neighboring cells, improving the SRS SINR.

Cloud BB
s + I
SRS Info
SRS Info

I’
s
Target UE
s’
Cell 2 s I Cell 1

Interference UE s + I - I’ ≈ s’

s Signals from the target UE to cell 1 I’ Interference signal reconstructed by cell 1

I Interference from the interference UE to cell 1 s’ Signals recovered after interference is eliminated in cell 1
8 Continuous Networking Performance Improvement: PDCCH SDMA
When PDCCH resources are insufficient, PDCCH narrow beams are used to enable PDCCH
resourcesto be shared by multiple UEs in different beams. This way, PDCCH SDMA is implemented,
improvingutilization of PDCCH resources, supporting scheduling of more UEs, and expanding the
capacity of PDSCH.

PDCCH wide beam PDCCH narrow beam

Jointly scheduled UE Independently scheduled UE

For jointly scheduled UEs, joint transmission is performed. They are scheduled in the same way
as UEs in wide beams.
For independently scheduled UEs, the same PDCCH resources are allocated to them.

9 Continuous Networking Performance Improvement: Intelligent

Parameter Selection
During major events, manual adjustment of feature parameters cannot ensure network
performance in real time. Intelligent parameter selection is introduced to automatically optimize
parameters relevant to massive MIMO cells during major events, improving the average downlink
user-perceived rate, average downlink cell throughput, and downlink spectral efficiency.

Triggering and rollback

2 condition check

Periodic data Parameter

1 collection 3 adjustment

All policies for intelligent parameter selection are predefined on the eNodeB.

Five scenarios
PDCCH capacity enhancement
Uplink interference optimization
Adaptive overload optimization
MLB parameter optimization
RS adaptation
 10 Experience Improvement Under Light and Medium Loads:
TM9 Hybrid Precoding
Traditionally, only precoding matrix indications (PMIs) are used to generate weights. The beams
formed using these weights are too wide and the energy is scattered; in addition, the beams cannot
accurately point to UEs. TM9 hybrid precoding is introduced to improve the beamforming capability
for TM9 UEs, thereby increasing the average downlink system throughput and improving user
experience.

Horizontal and vertical

weighting, and optimal
beam selection

11 Dual-Stream Beamforming for Non-Antenna-Selection UEs

Enabling dual-stream beamforming for non-antenna-selection UEs in a cell with a light downlink
load and a high proportion of low-speed UEs can increase the downlink user-perceived rate and
average downlink cell spectral efficiency.

Transmission mode selection for non-antenna-selection MBB UEs

Light load in the cell

Dual-stream TM8 or
dual-stream TM9w/oPMI TM7

Heavy load in the cell

Glossary AoA angle of arrival CRS cell-specific reference signal CSI-RS CSI reference signal
DMB dynamic massive beam MU-BF multi-user beamforming MU-MIMO multi-user MIMO
PCC primary component carrier PMI precoding matrix indication SMB static multiple beam
SCC secondary component carrier SRS sounding reference signal SINR signal to interference plus noise ratio
SU-MIMO multi-user MIMO

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