ZTE claims that the company made a significant breakthrough in research by completing a pre-commercial test on D-MIMO (distributed multiple input and multiple output), a next-generation radio access network technology. The field test conducted jointly by ZTE and a partner, demonstrated an up-to-9 times increase in data rate at the cell edge through the use of D-MIMO technology based on ZTE’s proprietary Cloud Radio solution.
The outdoor part of the test covered single-user and multiple-user scenarios in an environment with multiple overlapping base stations, using commercially-available mobile device terminals.
The test used the Coherent-Joint Transmission technology which ensures full phase synchronization among base stations, so that the jointly transmitted signal is amplified to the maximum level as it arrives at the antenna of a user terminal, minimizing interference with other terminals.
As a mobile communications system typically contains many base stations, interference causes degraded signaling at the cell edge, affecting user experience. D-MIMO technology can effectively improve the data rate at the cell edge through coordinated transmission among base stations, resolving a major challenge facing operators, said ZTE.
