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Vodafone UK, Huawei Complete Massive MIMO Trial

Vodafone UK, Huawei Complete Massive MIMO Trial Image Credit: Huawei

Vodafone UK and Huawei said that they have successfully conducted the first trial of Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple output) 2.6GHz TDD in Europe on Vodafone’s commercial network in Newbury, achieving great results in terms of spectrum efficiency and increases in network capacity.

Vodafone UK said will continue to test the technology, as Massive MIMO could benefit many of Vodafone's customers, particularly in areas where there are a large number of devices, such as city centers, train stations, business districts and stadiums.

Network capacity is the amount of data traffic that can be carried in a given time between the network and mobile devices and is highly dependent on the amount of spectrum available. Spectrum is a finite resource, which means that using more to increase capacity is often not an option.

However, demand for high-bandwidth services continues to grow quickly and the need for us to increase capacity within the limits of the spectrum available has never been greater. A new iteration of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology called Massive MIMO may be the answer, said Huawei.

MIMO is a technology used to multiply the capacity of a wireless connection without requiring more spectrum. A number of technologies, including Wi-Fi and LTE, have used MIMO techniques for years to achieve more capacity without the need to use more spectrum. 

However, Massive MIMO is able to focus the signal into a more precise set of layers making transmission more efficient. These layers can bring more capacity than current 4G systems with the same bandwidth and Massive MIMO is also capable of ‘full dimensional beamforming’, which means it can direct beams both horizontally and vertically.

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

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