China Mobile recently collaborated with Huawei to introduce a key 4.5G technology D-MIMO (Distributed MIMO) on its commercial 4G network at the Bund, a famous scenic spot in Shanghai.
Huawei said that the D-MIMO technology can re-direct interference to useful signals, effectively resolving the challenge of insufficient network capacity among Shanghai’s densely populated urban areas.
An onsite test on China Mobile's network using commercial phones showed 35% increase in cell capacity to reach 140 Mbps. At the same time, a single-user test scenario resulted in an increase of 80% reaching 15 Mbps, even at the cell edge where signals are typically the weakest, claims Huawei.
According to Huawei, as number of sites increases in a specific area, interference also increases accordingly, and therefore undermines the expansion capacity and user experience at the cell edge. This defeats the standard method of adding more carriers and sites to increase network capacity.
Xu Xuebing, General Manager of Huawei TD-LTE
By adopting 5G technology on 4G networks well in advance, operators can transform interference into useful signals, resolving challenges brought on by dense site deployment. This can also transform traditional base station-centric networks into user-centric networks, providing end users with a no edge MBB experience.
