Base Station Antenna Innovation and re-configurable Networks David Barker, CTO Quintel Technology

16 February 2011

Agenda
Base Station Antenna Evolution Where now with Antennas? Space or Spectral Efficiency? How Quintel is innovating for Space and Spectral Efficiency The Smarter Antenna: Smart features but on a Passive Platform Whats a Dynamic Network Summary

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

How the Base Station Antenna has evolved Maxwells Laws not Moores Law
Source: 3G Americas; 3G & 4G Antenna Deployment 2010?
Point of Flux: Reconfigurable? Active? Adaptive?
More Bands?

Multi-Port

Spectral and Space Efficiency Mutually Exclusive

Combiners
Multi-array

Spectral Efficiency Techniques

Space Efficiency Techniques

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

But More Spectrum is needed and coming

900 900 900 800 White Space 700 800 900 900

2G
2G 3G 4G Tomorrow?
1500 1800 1800 1800 1800 2100 2100 2100 2300

2600 2600

More and more spectrum to be made available FCC Broadband plan promises another 300MHz by 2015 & 500MHz by 2020 (10 bands) Ofcom UK promises 500MHz by 2015 LTE Advanced aligned with this multi-band concept (band bonding) More Antennas needed Where we are positioned?

Space Efficiency Techniques

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

Quintel Product Applications for LTE Space Efficiency in a Multi-Band world

PCS1900

AWS

UMTS2100 GSM1800 LTE2600

800/850 Service LTE700 GSM900 LTE800

LTE(AWS) Remote Head Solution shown

700/850/1900 Combiners

700/850/1900 Combiners

9/18/21

8/26

Optional TMAs Optional Band Combiners

LTE-AWS

700/850/1900 Combiners

700/850/1900 Combiners

Space Efficiency Techniques

Optional 900/1800/2100 Combiners Tx/Rx Tx/Rx Tx/Rx Tx/Rx Optional 800/2600 Combiners Tx/Rx

Tx/Rx

cdma 800

cdma 1900

LTE 700

Tx/Rx

Tx/Rx

UMTS2100 GSM1800

GSM900

LTE800 (790-862MHz)

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Tx/Rx

LTE2600

Tx/Rx

MIMO Engineering & Innovation Back to Space Diversity to help Spectral Efficiency?

Quintel Dualband 4 Port Antennas (698-894MHz/1710-2170MHz) 6x Independent Tilts 4xn MIMO (LTE700 & LTE-AWS) Hybrid Space+Polz Diversity (GSM & UMTS )

In US, most sites are 2x Antennas per sector.

Quintel product allows initial 2x2 MIMO with either:

Conventional X-Pol only, or Spatially Separated X-Pols

LTE(AWS) Remote Head Solution shown, as an example of avoiding AWS/850 diplex-combining.

700/850/1900 Combiners

700/850/1900 Combiners

700/850/1900 Combiners

700/850/1900 Combiners

LTE-AWS

700/850/1900 Combiners

700/850/1900 Combiners

700/850/1900 Combiners

700/850/1900 Combiners

GSM 850 GSM 1900 LTE 700 UMTS 1900 UMTS 850

Quintel offering also support to upgrade to 4x4 MIMO on 700 and AWS bands Quintel maintains independent tilt for all services also Patented technique and application.

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

Uplink/Downlink Independent Tilt Space & Spectral Efficiency

Corporate Feed Networks
Quintel Corporate Feed Network (+45o) Quintel Corporate Feed Network (-45o)

Uplink is normally Coverage limited and Downlink is normally Interference limited Uplink and Downlink are conventionally tilted as one A Dichotomy? Phase Shifting could be applied as part of (within) a modified RRU. Can add other bands (within bandwidth of array) with independent tilt as required from same array. Can also add other arrays for further bands.

Phase Shifters

Phase Slope across array (=tilt) (proportional to) Phase differential at corp feed inputs

+45

-45

LTE Uplink (3o) LTE Downlink (5o)

Tx/Rx1

Tx/Rx2

LTE eNB

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

Cell Boundary

Downlink Independent Tilt with Uplink Beamforming Space & Spectral Efficiency

Corporate Feed Networks

Quintel Corporate Feed Network (+45o) Quintel Corporate Feed Network (-45o)

Dynamic Beamforming for LTE Uplink Independent Static Tilt for LTE Downlink

T R T R

Same configuration as previous slide, but now connecting both differential Rx pairs from +45 and -45 arrays to 4-way Maximal Ratio Combiner (MRC) at the base station, rather than usual 2-way MRC. MRC algorithm simply applies weights and phase delays to the 4x Rx inputs to maximize C/I, and will do this on a per channel (per user) basis at baseband. Applying phase delays to within each of the Rx differential pairs is simply creating a coherent beam (tilt) toward/from the user. And applying phase/weights between +45 and -45 is then standard 2-way Rx diversity.

Phase Shifters

+45

-45

LTE Uplink (Beamforming) LTE Downlink

RxD4 RxD3

Tx/Rx1

Tx/Rx2

LTE eNB

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

Antenna Innovation: Digital RAN Moving to the Smarter Antenna

Past: Conventional BTS

Present: Remote Radio Head

Future?: Active Antenna

Innovation: Quintel

Baseband/DAC/RF Stages

Power Dividing Network

Power Dividing Network

RET

RET

Quintel Corporate Feed Network

Standard Antenna

Standard Antenna

Smart Antenna

Quintel Antenna

20W PA RRU
BB-RF

2x10W PAs RRU

BB-RF

Optical Fibre

40W PA
BB-RF

BTS

Baseband Server

Optical Fibre

Optical Fibre Baseband Server Baseband Server Multi-Band Capable Offers Active/Smart antenna features Completely Passive

Spectral Efficiency Techniques

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

Antenna Innovation: Digital RAN Some Quintel Advanced Patented (Digital) Applications
Multi dimensional applications covering Optimisation of different access technologies in same freq band Optimising individual RF channels within same standard Enhancing cell throughput on network or cluster basis. All delivered through a single passive antenna

Spectral Efficiency Techniques

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

Quintel Intelligent Passive Antenna The Smarter Antenna

Conventional
800/2100 DualBand Antenna 900/1800 DualBand Antenna

Smart
Active 800 Antenna Passive 900 Band Antenna Active 1800 Antenna Active 2100 Antenna

Smarter
Quintel 8-Port Antenna

RRH RRH RRH

RRH

Spectral Efficiency Techniques Space Efficiency Techniques

Space Efficiency Techniques Spectral Efficiency Techniques

U2100 L800

U2100 L800

U2100 L800
G/L1800 G900

G/L1800
G900
Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

G/L1800
G900

What about 4x4 MIMO?

Ericsson MIMO Trials, Ericsson Review Jan 2010 Weak performance for 3x or 4x Rates

Peak

Gain Average

Cell Edge

+
Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

Early 4xn MIMO trials may suggest that 4x Spatial Mux for SUMIMO is very rare in the radio channel, and it may be more efficient to use 4x Radios as MU-MIMO or as 2x Spatial Mux with some Beamforming....as introduced in 3GPP Rel 9/10

Quintel Elevation Beamforming Antenna The Smarter Antenna

Corporate Feed Networks

Quintel Corporate Feed Network (+45o) Quintel Corporate Feed Network (-45o)

Quintel A&B ports can be considered as a first order beamfomer input (we just change phase) but in Elevation (First Order = 1 mainlobe+1 null = tilt) All literature to date considers Azimuthal Beamforming delivered by multiple columns of arrays.

Interference

UE Dynamic Beamform/Tilting for LTE800

LTE (10MHz) Throughput vs. Distance Scatter Plot (Central Cells/Int Tilts) (Mech Tilt = 3o, Elec Tilt=2o, Bin Size = 10m, Boresight +/- 30o) Sites without Traffic EDT=7

60
+45A +45B -45A -45B

50

Throughput (Mbps)

40 30 20 10 0

Beamforming in Elevation across each A&B ports

4xTx/Rx

Spatial Multiplexing up to Rank 2 across +45 and -45 BF pairs

Original Throu

Optimised Thr

LTE800

100

200

300

400

500

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

Distance (m)

Whats a Dynamic Network?

Now - Standard RET Tilt change every few months Long term (underlying) variations in traffic and topology

Self Optimizing Network (SON) - Standard RET Tilt change every few minutes at peak cycling Short term variations in traffic and topology Software Reconfigurable Networks

Quintel Innovation: Cell Tilt Sweeping Tilt changes many time per second Exploits Multi-User Scheduling Diversity; needs network synchronisation (Opportunistic Beamforming technique)

Quintel Innovation: Beamforming in Elevation/per user tilting Tilt or beamform change every TTI Logically the same as MIMO Beamforming but in Elevation (Optimal Beamforming technique)

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

LTE needs independent tilting to legacy services LTE is optimised with greater tilts (even for same traffic)
Common Tilt Case Independent Tilt Case

>26% Increase in throughput at cell edges

Common Tilt Network Throughputs: 79.1% Subs > 2Mbps

Ind Tilt Network Throughputs: 86.8% Subs > 2Mbps

CDMA
LTE

LTE Optimised with greater Tilts than for CDMA1x

Global Metric for Cluster (cell edge areas): Integrating over entire CDF for Cell Edges, taken as the 90% percentile of subscribers, then by interpolation the Average Cell Edge Data Rate Throughput per User has increased by 26.2%

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

The Cell Edge Sweeping Concept The Smarter Network?

Site 1: Time Varying Tilt Site 2: Time Varying Tilt (in anti-phase to Site 1)

o) T =0 (Ec / Io) T =0 c/ Io (dB) >=24 Ec/ Io (dB) >=24

c/ Io (dB) >=23 Ec/ Io (dB) >=23

c/ Io (dB) >=22 Ec/ Io (dB) >=22

c/ Io (dB) >=21 Ec/ Io (dB) >=21

c/ Io (dB) >=20 Ec/ Io (dB) >=20

c/ Io (dB) >=19 Ec/ Io (dB) >=19

c/ Io (dB) >=18 Ec/ Io (dB) >=18

c/ Io (dB) >=17 Ec/ Io (dB) >=17

c/ Io (dB) >=16 Ec/ Io (dB) >=16

c/ Io (dB) >=15 Ec/ Io (dB) >=15

c/ Io (dB) >=14 Ec/ Io (dB) >=14

c/ Io (dB) >=13 Ec/ Io (dB) >=13

c/ Io (dB) >=12 Ec/ Io (dB) >=12

c/ Io (dB) >=11 Ec/ Io (dB) >=11

c/ Io (dB) >=10 Ec/ Io (dB) >=10

c/ Io (dB) >=9 Ec/ Io (dB) >=9

c/ Io (dB) >=8 Ec/ Io (dB) >=8

c/ Io (dB) >=7 Ec/ Io (dB) >=7

c/ Io (dB) >=6 Ec/ Io (dB) >=6

c/ Io (dB) >=5 Ec/ Io (dB) >=5

c/ Io (dB) >=4 Ec/ Io (dB) >=4

c/ Io (dB) >=3 Ec/ Io (dB) >=3

c/ Io (dB) >=2 Ec/ Io (dB) >=2

c/ Io (dB) >=1 Ec/ Io (dB) >=1

c/ Io (dB) >=0 Ec/ Io (dB) >=0

c/ Io (dB) >=-1 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-1

c/ Io (dB) >=-2 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-2

c/ Io (dB) >=-3 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-3

c/ Io (dB) >=-4 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-4

c/ Io (dB) >=-5 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-5

c/ Io (dB) >=-6 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-6

LTE has more robust link budget than 2G/3G LTE can be tilted more aggressively than 2G/3G for same coverage More tilt = better network C/I = improved throughputs However, this means we have unused tilt range How can this be exploited? A whole loci of tilt combinations in a cluster can maintain coverage By varying tilt synchronously over a cluster we can move the cell edges around and maintain coverage In turn, no users dwell at cell edges and through Scheduling are serviced during optimal C/I conditions We are introducing additional C/I variation to cell edge users to make Scheduling more efficient.

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

The Cell Edge Sweeping Concept Initial Simulator Results

C/I Experienced in Static Tilts

) T =0 (Ec / Io) T =0 Io (dB) >=24 Ec/ Io (dB) >=24

Io (dB) >=23 Ec/ Io (dB) >=23

Io (dB) >=22 Ec/ Io (dB) >=22

Io (dB) >=21 Ec/ Io (dB) >=21

Io (dB) >=20 Ec/ Io (dB) >=20

Io (dB) >=19 Ec/ Io (dB) >=19

Io (dB) >=18 Ec/ Io (dB) >=18

Io (dB) >=17 Ec/ Io (dB) >=17

Io (dB) >=16 Ec/ Io (dB) >=16

Io (dB) >=15 Ec/ Io (dB) >=15

Static C/I Experienced

Static Network Cell edge conditions ~ -3dB Scheduled Rate ~2Mbps

Cell Edge region (<15% Area)

Io (dB) >=14 Ec/ Io (dB) >=14

Io (dB) >=13 Ec/ Io (dB) >=13

Io (dB) >=12 Ec/ Io (dB) >=12

Io (dB) >=11 Ec/ Io (dB) >=11

Io (dB) >=10 Ec/ Io (dB) >=10

Io (dB) >=9 Ec/ Io (dB) >=9

Io (dB) >=8 Ec/ Io (dB) >=8

Peak C/I Experienced

Io (dB) >=7 Ec/ Io (dB) >=7

Io (dB) >=6 Ec/ Io (dB) >=6

Io (dB) >=5 Ec/ Io (dB) >=5

Io (dB) >=4 Ec/ Io (dB) >=4

Io (dB) >=3 Ec/ Io (dB) >=3

Io (dB) >=2 Ec/ Io (dB) >=2

Io (dB) >=1 Ec/ Io (dB) >=1

Io (dB) >=0 Ec/ Io (dB) >=0

Io (dB) >=-1 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-1

Io (dB) >=-2 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-2

Io (dB) >=-3 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-3

Io (dB) >=-4 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-4

Io (dB) >=-5 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-5

Tilt sweeping Network Peak Cell edge conds~ +3dB Scheduled Rate ~7Mbps

Cell Edge region (<15% Area)

Io (dB) >=-6 Ec/ Io (dB) >=-6

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

1.6x Total Cell and 3x Cell Edge Throughput Increases

Summary
Antennas are bound by Physics: Maxwells Laws Slow evolution in innovation Data Explosion = More Spectrum bands and need for Spectral Efficiencies Where next: Active, Adaptive array, or Multi-Banding Can we have both Spectral and Space Efficiencies? Multi-Banding is key to scaling for the future Passive Platform delivering Space, Spectral, Cost and Reliability Efficiencies Dynamic Networks: RET, SON, Beamforming, Tilt Sweeping Innovation is about thinking laterally about problems rather than throwing brute force at the problem; marrying the network with the antenna

Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.

Thank You! Dave Barker

+44 7958 418816 david.barker@quintelsolutions.com

When wireless is pushed to the limit the answer isnt more of the same

The answer is

more innovation
Copyright 2011 Quintel. All rights reserved. Quintel Confidential.