By Jeongho Park, Vice President and Head of System Design Group, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics and Charlie Zhang, Sr. Vice President, Samsung Research America
It’s been ten years since Samsung developed its first Massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) radio, beginning a decade of leadership in this essential wireless technology. The market has seen the quest for improved mobile communication capacity, which becomes one of the defining technological challenges of our time. From remotely operating autonomous vehicles to connecting the ever-expanding Internet of Things (IoT) devices, our unquenchable appetite for data demands a robust and efficient wireless infrastructure capable of delivering more gigabits of traffic using limited spectrum resources. Wireless technology improvements such as increasing the QAM rate, beamforming, and carrier aggregation have all played an integral part in increasing throughput, but Massive MIMO is one of the most critical technologies that continues to propel the networks industry forward.
MIMO technology has its roots in the 1970s and 1980s, but it wasn’t until the early 2010s and the rollout of 4G that MIMO became a standard feature in mobile networks. Multiple antenna configurations, such as 2x2 and 4x4 MIMO, were deployed to improve data throughput and signal quality. It was in the 2010s when the market saw the introduction of Massive MIMO, with 8x8 and above configurations better suited for the need for increased capacities.
Samsung’s 10th anniversary of Massive MIMO technologies
Samsung is proud to mark its 10th anniversary of advancing Massive MIMO technologies. In 2013, Samsung Research (SR) and Samsung Research America (SRA) introduced the full-dimension MIMO (FD-MIMO) cellular wireless communication system as a practical implementation of Massive MIMO theory using 2D active antenna array technology. It was proposed as one of the key pillars in 3GPP 5G standards. Samsung developed its first 32T32R Massive MIMO prototype radios at 2.5 and 3.5GHz bands to demonstrate the potential benefits and the ways it could overcome technical challenges that might arise during commercialization. In 2015, Samsung showcased the world’s first commercially viable Massive MIMO system in over-the-air tests at SRA’s facility in Plano, TX.
Two years later, Samsung Networks and a U.S. operator tested the 2.5GHz band radios in a street setting and, in the following year, announced that the 5G-ready solutions, capable of providing simultaneous 4G and 5G services using Samsung’s ‘split-mode’ capabilities, were in commercial service in the operator’s TDD-LTE (Time Division Duplex) network. In 2019, Samsung delivered a 5G-ready CBRS Massive MIMO solution to another Tier One U.S. operator, supporting Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) solutions in rural markets.
In subsequent years, Samsung has consistently introduced a series of innovation, leveraging its extensive knowledge in diverse wireless domains to advance significant Massive MIMO initiatives.
Unlocking spectral efficiency with multi-band Massive MIMO
In 2021, Samsung unveiled the industry's first-ever dual-band Massive MIMO solution, capable of supporting both the C-band and Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) bands within a single 16T16R unit. In the same year, Samsung announced the commercial availability of its first FDD AWS/PCS dual-band Massive MIMO 16T16R radio, one of the industry’s lightest FDD dual-band radios at that time. Subsequently, in 2022, the company launched Massive MIMO 5G C-band commercial network service deployment in the U.S.
Presently, Samsung offers a comprehensive portfolio of Massive MIMO radios and its multi-band radios are fully compatible with 2G, 4G, and 5G technologies.
The advantages of Samsung's multi-band radios over its single-band counterparts are numerous. These radios exhibit lower power consumption compared to deploying multiple separate radios for different frequency bands while occupying a smaller physical footprint.
Mobility Enhancer increases Massive MIMO performance
In 2021, Samsung announced the success of a new technology, Mobility Enhancer, which improves the performance of its Massive MIMO antennas by up to 30%. Mobility Enhancer, powered by AI and advanced signal processing technology, enables its Massive MIMO radios to improve beamforming accuracy towards a moving user (e.g. someone walking) to maximize the 5G experience.
Samsung’s in-house chipsets enhance capabilities
With capabilities to design, develop and manufacture its chipsets internally, Samsung equips its Massive MIMO radios with its in-house chipsets to create smaller, energy efficient and powerful products. Massive MIMO radios are a crucial part of 5G networks to provide a vast level of coverage, capacity and performance. Samsung’s products are ready to meet the challenges of 5G networks, starting from its in-house chipsets through all other technology innovations.
Energy saving capabilities
Samsung has also prioritized energy efficiency in its Massive MIMO radios. Samsung's radios come equipped with advanced features to enhance network performance like Radio Frequency (RF) power sharing, Carrier Aggregation (CA) and beamforming technology. These devices incorporate the latest energy-saving software features and cutting-edge chipsets, contributing to reduced energy consumption and sustainable network operations.
Synergy unleashed: Massive MIMO with vRAN and Open RAN
The advancement of Massive MIMO and the increased data that flows as a result of the rise in the number of antenna elements and the ensuing traffic means a higher workload for the Radio Access Network (RAN) and, for Samsung, its virtualized RAN (vRAN). The company has had global success, first in Europe, with a customer that has deployed 64T64R Open RAN-compliant Massive MIMO radios—fully integrated into the vRAN. A Tier One operator in Japan turned on the world’s first Standalone Open RAN site with vRAN in 2022 and is now deploying vRAN with the world’s first commercial MU-MIMO (multi-user MIMO) implementation with Open RAN-compliant multi-vendor interoperability.
Samsung’s newest version of its vRAN solution, vRAN 3.0, provides wider bandwidth support (60MHz to 200MHz) for three-cell configurations with 64T64R Massive MIMO radios. Furthermore, the combination of Samsung’s vRAN and its 64T64R Massive MIMO radios offer unmatched performance, supporting 16 layers downlink and 8 layers uplink over 200MHz.
Conclusion
Over the past decade, Samsung has been at the forefront of the wireless communication revolution, driving the evolution of Massive MIMO technology. From the early days of Massive MIMO technology, Samsung has consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation through long-standing R&D efforts.
With its small antenna elements, Massive MIMO works best with high frequencies, and the continuation of 5G and the introduction of 6G, which will operate at still higher frequency bands, means Massive MIMO will continue to play an important role in wireless networks for years to come. Samsung's outlook for wireless communications and Massive MIMO technologies is bright, promising a future filled with even more groundbreaking advancements.