Millimeter-Wave Massive MIMO systems with Smart Beamforming
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Lunds universitet - Institutionen för Elektro- och informationsteknik |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 2 040 000 |
| Project duration | July 2018 - June 2020 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | The strategic innovation programme Electronic Components and Systems: |
| Call | Electronic components and systems. Research and innovation projects 2018. |
Important results from the project
The objective of this project is to build a real-time millimeter-wave (mmWave) massive multiple-input multiple-out (MIMO) testbed with hybrid beamforming to develop new technologies for 5th generation (5G) and beyond 5G wireless communications and test them in a real-propagation environment. For this testbed, a hybrid architecture based on beam selection is adopted. The developed testbed constitutes a flexible platform that supports up to 64-antenna/16-transceiver chains base station, simultaneously serving multi-user.
Expected long term effects
This project covers different aspects from communication theory to hardware implementation in tight collaboration between Lund University and Sony. As a result, a flexible massive MIMO testbed with hybrid beamforming operating at 28 GHz is developed. Furthermore, we have successfully demonstrated our testbed in IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference 2020 and verified its viability. This testbed will be used for testing newly developed technologies in real propagation environments and serve as the performance evaluation platform for Sony commercial products.
Approach and implementation
A flexible testbed, for the development of future wireless technologies and their test under real-world conditions, is imperative. To build such testbed, we have analyzed and tackled its implementation challenges through this project. Thanks to the experience and know-how from both academia and industry, an efficient architecture for mmWave massive MIMO testbed is developed. We believe our initial testbed will provide valuable insight into the development and implementation of future mmWave massive MIMO technologies.