China Mobile Shanghai and Huawei have jointly deployed the world's first wideband Massive MIMO site to help improve 4G network spectral efficiency.
China Mobile has been focusing on the design of wideband Massive MIMO as part of its research on 5G. The technology been oriented specifically towards large-scale commercial use by the operator.
Wideband Massive MIMO allows a single module to support the activation of three 2.6-GHz carriers, potentially allowing for a three-fold increase in the spectral efficiency of cells.
The live deployment in Shanghai has achieved peak cell throughput rates of 72Mpbs using an uplink 8-stream capability configuration, as well as 630Mbps downlink.
Huawei said the technology supports a smooth transition to CloudRAN architecture, while its in-house developed chips and optimization techniques helps provide processing capabilities four times higher than that of the industry standard.
The technology is particularly suited to meeting specialized coverage requirements such as high-rise buildings.