Essentials of MIMO

Testing for DAS

Systems
PCTEL RF Solutions
James Zik, Senior Product
Marketing Manager
Dale Bass, Engineering
Support Service Manager

Agenda
What is MIMO?
LTE MIMO Measurements
MIMO O-DAS Case Study

Antenna Techniques

MIMO is a smart antenna

technoIogy that employs
multiple antennas at the
Tx and Rx ends
MIMO is NxM (i.e. 2x2,
4x2, 4x4, 8x8, etc.) where
N>1 and M>1
2x2 (deployed), 4x4 and
4x2 (emerging),
8x8 (LTE Advanced)

Radiated signals traveling

on different paths provide
the possibility of
performance
improvements

Why MIMO?
300

Spectrum Surplus (MHz)

200

100

-100

-200

-300
2011

2012

2013

2014

FCC Licensed Spectrum Needs*

Need to get maximum throughput on available spectrum
*FCC, Mobile Broadband: The Benefits of Additional Spectrum (October 2010).

Why MIMO?

Medium cost method to improve transmission performance

(already built-in on many LTE base stations)
Increases physical layer capacity (w/ spatial multiplexing MIMO)
Throughput gain dependent on number of Tx and Rx antennas
i.e. 2x2, 4x4, etc.
LTE Peak Spectral Efficiency per 3GPP
35

LTE Peak Throughput of 4x

30
25
20
PeakPhysicalLayer
SpectralEfficiency(b/s/Hz)

2x1
2x2

15

4x4

10

8x8

LTE Peak Throughput of 2x

0
10

0
5

10
SNR(dB)

15

20

25

30

How Does MIMO Work?

Spatial Multiplexing:
Transmits multiple data
streams simultaneously in
the same frequency and
time, taking advantage of
different paths
Requires separate paths
Requires high SNR to

improve throughput
Transmission shown one way (eNB to UE) for simplicity

Transmission Modes
3GPP Defined Transmission Modes

Currently deployed transmission modes

Agenda
What is MIMO?
LTE MIMO Measurements
MIMO O-DAS Testing

Why Test MIMO?

What are we trying to accomplish by testing MIMO?
Optimize the RAN physical layer for Maximum Throughput
Provide throughput gain of the physical layer for each
transmission mode (using standards number)
Characterize Link efficiency

Troubleshoot the RAN physical layer

Isolate path issues
Test for channel independence

What Parameters are

Necessary for MIMO Testing
Premise: Operators need to understand MIMO transmission
characteristics of the physical layer in RAN

Path measurements
Channel Quality Indicator (CQI as defined by 3GPP)
Throughput
Channel Condition Number (CN)

RF Path Measurements

Determines if there is a problem with base station port or

a particular antenna with regard to MIMO paths

Measurements are provided for each Tx/Rx antenna pair

4 paths for 2x2 MIMO
RSRP, RSRQ, RS CINR for each path

CQI
Consistent indicator of theoretical
transmission physical layer
efficiency
User layer throughput reduced up
to 10X due to control overhead
Handshaking
Synchronization
Retransmission

CQI measurement is an essential

tool for MIMO
With SISO, CINR translates
directly to CQI
With MIMO, CINR does NOT
translate to CQI i.e. throughput

CQI Index

Modulation

Code Rate x
1024

Efficiency
(b/s/Hz)

out of range

QPSK

78

0.1523

QPSK

120

0.2344

QPSK

193

0.3770

QPSK

308

0.6016

QPSK

449

0.8770

QPSK

602

1.1758

16QAM

378

1.4766

16QAM

490

1.9141

16QAM

616

2.4063

10

64QAM

466

2.7305

11

64QAM

567

3.3223

12

64QAM

666

3.9023

13

64QAM

772

4.5234

14

64QAM

873

5.1152

15

64QAM

948

5.5547

TS 36.213 Table 7.2.3-1: 4-bit CQI

Throughput
How and where is throughput measured?
Physical Layer
Throughput
CQI

Physical Layer Throughput

(for RAN optimization)
Throughput measurement includes RAN, Backhaul,
Network Loading, Server, etc.

Throughput (Mbps)
5 MHz

10 MHz

20 MHz

0.55

1.10

2.19

0.84

1.69

3.38

1.36

2.71

5.43

2.17

4.33

8.66

3.16

6.31

12.63

4.23

8.47

16.93

5.32

10.63

21.26

6.89

13.78

27.56

8.66

17.33

34.65

10

9.83

19.66

39.32

11

11.96

23.92

47.84

12

14.05

28.10

56.19

13

16.28

32.57

65.14

14

18.41

36.83

73.66

15

20.00

39.99

79.99

Condition Number (CN)

CN is a measure of the independence (or correlation) of the

channels (paths)
Measured from 0 to 50 dB; lower values are better indicating low
correlation
CN helps analyze potential causes for throughput issues but is not used
to calculate throughput
Studies show MIMO can still be effective with high CN if CINR is high

Industry Norm
CN (dB)
0
~<13*
~13 to 19*
~>19*

Indication
Two totally independent channels, an ideal condition that
can enable maximum throughput
Favorable condition that can enable much better throughput
than SISO/MISO based transmission systems
Medium correlation that can provide marginal throughput
improvement
High correlation where MIMO generally would not induce a
condition that would increase throughput

*The CNs indicating the level of correlation are based on industry published approximations and can vary by several dB depending on conditions

Value of MIMO
Measurements

Separate CN, ECQI and transmission mode

measurements allow operators to diagnose the causes of
low throughput
Low CN and low CQI means there is an interference or a
power issue
High CN and low CQI means high channel correlation and
probable low SINR

Agenda
What is MIMO?
LTE MIMO Measurements
MIMO O-DAS Case Study

What we Tested

FDD-LTE 2x2 MIMO outdoor DAS

When: April 2012
Outdoor DAS deployed due to cell tower restrictions
Area characterized by high foliage and low antenna height

Antenna Locations

How we Tested

Simultaneous O-DAS Testing with Scanner and UE Data Card

PCTEL SeeGull EX Scanner
LG test data card on another system
Why use a Scanner?
3GPP TR 37.976: 3GPP already defined conducted tests for
MIMO and multiple antenna receivers . but it is clear that
the ability to duplicate these gains in the field is highly
dependent on the performance of the receive-antenna
system..
Scanners use omni-directional antennas
3GPP TR 37.976: The MIMO OTA throughput is measured at
the top of physical layer of HSPA and LTE system
Scanners provide a neutral baseline
Orientation Test
Walk Test vs Drive Test
MIMO Transmission Modes (on the scanner)
RSRP, CN, CINR and Throughput

Orientation Analysis
UE Data Card

Frequency

Position: 0
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

kb/s

Position A Average: 2.820 Mbps

Frequency

Position: 90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

kb/s

Position C Average: 1.232 Mbps

2.3X difference depending on

orientation due to directionality
of UE antennas
(stationary test)

MIMO antennas in UEs

are typically very
directional

Speed Analysis
UE Walk Test

UE Drive Test (~20 mph)

((
4
2
)
4
)

45

80

40

70

35

60

30
25
20
15
10

50
40
30
20

10

Throughput (kb/s)

kb/s

(24)

# of Data Points

# of Data Points

(42)

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000

Throughput (kb/s)

Throughput drops by approx. 2X with drive test

Drive Test Data

UE
Lost Connection

Data

UE Data

Scanner Data

Significant differences
between scanner & UE

# of Data Points

# of Data Points

UE

Note: Scanner data rate much higher

since its measuring at the physical layer

600
400
200

5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

0
100

Tput (kb/s)

1000

2500

5000

10000

More

Tput (kb/s)

Scanner

Drive Test Data

Scanner Data

# of Data Point

Scanner
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

Tput (kb/s)

Overall throughput is low; expect physical layer scanner

throughput to be 30 to 80 Mb/s for effective MIMO gain

Scanner Transmission
Modes

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0

Tput (kb/s)

Closed Loop Spatial

Multiplexing (mode 4)
1000
Frequency

# of Data Points

Open Loop Transmit Diversity

(mode 2)
800
600
400
200
0
100

1000

2500

5000 10000 20000 30000 More

Tput (kb/s) 100

1000

2500

5000 10000 20000 30000 More

No throughput gain from multiple data streams

RSRP

# of Data Points

RSRP

dBm

Test results show acceptable RSRP

CN and CINR for MIMO

# of Data Points

CINR

dB

Test results show very LOW CINR

CN and CINR for MIMO

# of Data Points

Condition Number (CN)

dB

Test results show low CN

MIMO requires high CINR and prefers low CN to maximize throughput

Conclusions
MIMO is ineffective in this network
Network has a severe interference and/or noise problem
Acceptable RSRP but very poor CINR

Conditions favorable for MIMO to improve throughput

Low CN number
UE Measurements for MIMO must be carefully examined since they
are affected by:
UE Orientation
Speed of movement during the test
Drive test vs walk test for outdoor systems.

MIMO Transmission mode the UE is operating in

Another UE may operate in a different transmission mode

A scanner is very effective in characterizing a MIMO network

MIMO Testing Benefits

Characterize RF propagation for MIMO

Consistent, repeatable RF data independent of the backhaul, network layer overhead &
server loading
Higher dynamic range to determine noise floor and potential interference effects
High data density to locate fading issues and reduced MIMO throughput

Determine channel independence

Analyze network problems related to multipath conditions with condition number
Understand how antenna tilt or relocation can affect throughput

Provides result for various transmission modes

Understand how different transmission modes affect RAN performance

Troubleshoot antenna/cabling issues and base station Tx port issues

Path measurements

Questions?
Thank you