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MIMO in HSPA
MIMO 2x2 (i.e. with two transmit and receive antennas) for HSDPA has been introduced in Rel. 7 3GPP
(Third Generation Partnership project) specification
[6],[7]. Two MIMO transmission modes have been defined a single (also called as transmit diversity) and a
dual layer (also called spatial multiplexing) mode. With
a single layer transmission, a pre coding (i.e. mapping of
modulated symbols to multiple antennas) matrix is adjusted to optimize power received by the terminal antennas. This is achieved by adjustment of the phase difference between symbols fed to the transmitting antennas in
order to provide a constructive interference at terminal
antennas. This results in an increased signal received
power and correspondingly higher average reported CQI
(Channel Quality Indicator) and higher throughput.
In case of a dual-layer transmission, an orthogonal precoding is applied, which allows to separate independent
data streams (layers) at the receiver. This theoretically
results in doubling the downlink capacity.
First MIMO enabling features for HSDPA offered by
telecom vendors provided only 28 Mbps DL (downlink)
peak throughput with 16QAM modulation on 15 parallel
HS-PDSCHs (High Speed-Physical Downlink Shared
Channels). Moreover, first MIMO solutions required a
significant usage of signal processing resources at base
stations, altogether making it not that interesting option.
Especially, in comparison with for example HSDPA an
upgrade through 64QAM enables 21 Mbps peak DL
HSDPA bit rate. A good illustration of the scenario from
2012 is provided in the GSMA report [8]. At present,
corresponding MIMO features offered by the telecom
vendors provide downlink capacity extension to 42
Mbps with HSPA 64QAM dual-stream MIMO (spatial
multiplexing) transmission mode on a single 5 MHz
carrier. In a similar manner, enabling dual-stream MIMO
on a DC-HSPA 2 x 5 MHz carriers increases peak downlink HSDPA throughput to 86 Mbps. Further evolution
includes MIMO extension on 4 or more 5 MHz carriers
MC-HSPA (Multi-Carrier HSPA) with analogical
downlink peak bit rate increase. In parallel to a carrieraggregation development, HSPA MIMO has been standardized as a Part of Rel. 11 of 3GPP with extension to
four transmit and receive antennas. Investigations performed by [9]-[11] have shown that higher order MIMO
in HSPA does only provide significant downlink spectral
3.
efficiency improvements in line with the increased spatial multiplexing scheme but also improves a coverage
for rank-1 and rank-2 HSDPA transmissions due to
higher-order beam forming gain [12].
Uplink direction for HSUPA MIMO has been a subject
of research as well with number of reports indicating not
only benefits from capacity point of view, but also as an
essential coverage enhancement and a terminal batterysavings [13]-[16].
There has been a significant amount of research reporting results of MIMO trials in HSPA networks as well as
number of commercial test-deployments, for example:
M1 (Singapure), Polsat (Poland), Swisscom (Switzerland), Smartone (Hong Kong), France Telecom and
Vodafone Groups [8],[17]- [19]. Although, at present
there are very few 3G networks with commercially
rolled out MIMO HSDPA solution.
Virtual Antenna Mapping is an old mechanism discussed widely by 3GPP, standardized, and offered as a
3G HSPA+ feature by telecom vendors [20]. Originally,
VAM is a transmit diversity mechanism enabling coexistence of HSDPA MIMO and non-MIMO devices
within a cell. Functionality relies on applying a matrix of
pre-defined fixed offsets to the incoming data before PA
through a 2-port signal processing matrix resulting in
two orthogonal data flows. The introduced phase offsets
is seen only by HSDPA MIMO users, although the signal should remain unchanged for the regular non-MIMO
HSDPA users, Fig. 1.
(a)
(b)
channels is increased accordingly) or capacity improvement (especially when power of common channels is
kept unchanged). This brings a direct improvement for
non-MIMO HSDPA users through average CQI increase
and hence - HSDPA end-user throughput.
Therefore, VAM remains an interesting feature, as the
additional PA required for the second MIMO antenna
can be fully utilized also by regular non-MIMO users.
Especially, as it is expected that MIMO-enabled HSDPA
terminals will not be dominant for early stage of MIMO
roll outs in 3G networks.
5.
Fig. 4. Activations of additional PA (Power Amplifier), figure per cell on monthly basis over two years
period; based on live 3G network.
Analyses were carried out on a commercial 3G network deployment. A cluster consisting of all cells served
by a single RNC (Radio Network Controller) covering
urban-dominant environment was selected for analysis.
Cells were, in general, carrying high- and medium-traffic
load. All outdoor base stations have been equipped with
cross-polar antennas supporting a conventional uplink
reception diversity.
A considered network was in mature stage, with no ongoing development or rollout project within an analyzed
time frame. The PA upgrades have been made as a part
of regular ongoing optimization process. Accordingly,
cells for the PA upgrade were identified and prioritized
with increased PS (Packet Switched)-call setup failure
rate due to AC (Admission Control) and low HS-DSCH
end-user throughput. Hence, the upgrades were triggered
purely by the capacity reasons, and accordingly 40W PA
activations were made while keeping transmission power
of the common channels unchanged
6.
CONCLUSIONS