IBS MIMO STUDY

A LIVE SITE TESTING AND RESEARCH

STUDY OF LTE MIMO

June 2016

A Comba Telecom White Paper

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 BACKGROUND ........................................................................................ 3
1.1

LTE ROLLOUT AROUND THE W ORLD ................................................................................................. 3

1.2

SISO AND MIMO IN IBS .............................................................................................................. 3

1.3

PURPOSE ............................................................................................................................... 4

2 TESTING ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................... 4

2.1

BASIC INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 4

2.2

SCENARIOS ............................................................................................................................. 4
2.2.1 SISO

................................................................................................................................... 4

2.2.2 MIMO

.................................................................................................................................. 5

2.2.3 ANT DENSITY .......................................................................................................................... 5

2.3

TESTING ITEMS & DEFINITION ......................................................................................................... 6

3 TESTING RESULT ..................................................................................... 6

............................................................................... 6

3.1

THROUGHPUT TESTING BETWEEN SISO AND MIMO

3.2

POWER UNBALANCES TESTING IN MIMO ............................................................................................ 7

3.3

THROUGHPUT PERFORMANCE TESTING AT DIFFERENT ANT DENSITY ............................................................. 8

4 CONCLUSION AND COMBA SOLUTION .......................................................... 9

4.1

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 9

4.2

COMBA SOLUTION

..................................................................................................................... 9

4.2.1 DIGIFLEX LITE+ ........................................................................................................................ 9

4.2.2 COMFLEX LOW POWER DAS ....................................................................................................... 10

INDEX TO FIGURES AND TABLES

FIGURE 1: LTE COMMERCIAL NETWORK .................................................................................................... 3
FIGURE 2: 70% OF WIRLESS TRAFFIC IS GENERATED INDOORS ......................................................................... 3
FIGURE 3: SISO MODE & MIMO MODE ................................................................................................... 3
FIGURE 5: MIMO SCENARIO ................................................................................................................... 5
FIGURE 6: ANT DENSITY SCENARIO ........................................................................................................... 5
FIGURE 7: DL THROUGHPUT TESTING RESULT.............................................................................................. 6
FIGURE 8: UL THROUGHPUT TESTING RESULT .............................................................................................. 6
FIGURE 10: UL POWER UNBALANCE TESTING RESULT .................................................................................... 7
FIGURE 11: DL THROUGHPUT IN DIFFERENT ANT DENSITY ............................................................................ 8
FIGURE 13: DIGIFLEX LITE+ PRODUCTS ...................................................................................................... 9
FIGURE 14: APPLICATION DIAGRAM ........................................................................................................ 10
FIGURE 15: COMFLEX LOW POWER PRODUCTS ......................................................................................... 10
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1 BACKGROUND
1.1 LTE ROLLOUTS AROUND THE WORLD
Today, wireless data traffic is increasing rapidly and is mainly generated indoors.
Consequently, this is driving rapid operator investment in LTE network deployment for
in-building systems (IBS).

Figure 1: LTE commercial network launch globally

Figure 2: 70% of wireless traffic is generated indoors

1.2 SISO AND MIMO IN IBS

There are two main models of IBS construction for LTE:

SISO (Single Input Single Output)

and MIMO (Multi Input Multi Output). The differences are illustrated in the below diagrams:

SISO Mode

Figure 3: SISO mode & MIMO mode

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MIMO Mode

1.3 PURPOSE
The purposes of this study are:
1.

To understand the throughput performance difference between SISO and MIMO

2.

To understand the effect of power unbalance in MIMO

3.

To understand the throughput performance in different antenna density

2 TESTING ENVIRONMENT
2.1 BASIC INTRODUCTION
The tests were conducted by China Telecom and Comba in Guangzhou, China:
1.

Comba Telecom oversaw the entire testing exercise.

2.

Use RRU for signal source and dongle as test terminal.

3.

JDSU testing software E6474A.

4.

Frequency bands: 2110-2125/1920-1935, total 15MHz

2.2 SCENARIOS

2.2.1 SISO

Figure 4: SISO scenario

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2.2.2 MIMO

Figure 5: MIMO scenario

2.2.3 ANT DENSITY

Low Density

High Density

Scenario

Scenario

Figure 6: ANT density scenario

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2.3 TESTING ITEMS & DEFINITION

Testing Items

Testing Location

Throughput testing between SISO and MIMO

Far-point

Mid-point

Near-point

Power unbalances testing in MIMO

Far-point

Mid-point

Near-point

Throughput performance testing in different ANT density

Far-point

Mid-point

Near-point

Table 1: Testing items

The locations are defined as below.
Near-point: DL signal SINR=20~25dB (Typical 25dB), and RSRP=-85~-90dBm (Typical -85dBm)
Mid-point: DL signal SINR=10~15dB (Typical 10dB), and RSRP=-95~-100dBm (Typical -100dBm)
Far-point: DL signal SINR=0~5dB (Typical 0dB), and RSRP=-105~-110dBm (Typical -110dBm)

3 TESTING RESULTS
3.1 THROUGHPUT TESTING BETWEEN SISO AND MIMO
1.

DL throughput testing result

Figure 7: DL throughput testing result

2.

UL throughput testing result

Figure 8: UL throughput testing result

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For DL throughout, MIMO is about twice that of SISO in near-point, mid-point and
far-point.

For UL throughout, MIMO is about twice that of SISO in near-point and mid-point, but
similar in far-point

3.2 POWER UNBALANCES TESTING IN MIMO

1.

DL throughput testing result

Figure 9: DL Power unbalance testing result

The DL throughput is declining with the increasing of power unbalance

There are slight declines when unbalance is 3dB to 5dB, but a sharp decline at 8dB

2.

UL throughput testing result

Figure 10: UL Power unbalance testing result

The UL throughput is declining with the increasing of power unbalance

There are slight declines when unbalance is 3dB to 5dB, but decline sharply when at
8dB mid-point.

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3.3 THROUGHPUT PERFORMANCE TESTING AT DIFFERENT ANT DENSITY

1.

DL testing result

Figure 11: DL throughput in different ANT density

By increasing the ANT density, LTE coverage is enhanced, the average DL throughput is
improved.

2.

UL testing result

Figure 12: UL throughput in different ANT density

By increasing the ANT density, LTE coverage is enhanced, the average UL throughput is
improved.

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4 CONCLUSION AND COMBA SOLUTION

4.1 CONCLUSION
From this study, we can arrive at below guidelines during LTE deployment:
1.

MIMO DL throughput performance is about double of SISO, while UL throughput

improves in near-point and mid-point and fairly similar in far-point.

2.

Control the power unbalance of the 2 channels within 5 dB

3.

Higher ANT density = better throughput

4.2 COMBA SOLUTIONS

4.2.1 DIGIFLEX LITE+
DigiFlex Lite+ is Combas newly designed digital distributed antenna system, targeted for
single operator scenarios. The solution is ideal for LTE MIMO and the single compact RU
not only supports LTE MIMO, but also 2G and 3G. The RU, embedded with a dual
polarization antenna, can ensure zero power unbalance between 2 channels.
Its flexible distributed structure and expansion capabilities can support up to 168 MRUs
(Multi-service Remote Units) with single MAU (Multi-service Access Units) and 24 MEUs
(Multi-service Extension Units) with combination of star and cascaded connection topologies.

The low cost MRU with power over fiber is ideally suited for high density deployment.

Figure 13: DigiFlex Lite+ products

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Figure 14: Application diagram

4.2.2 COMFLEX LOW POWER DAS

The ComFlex Low power DAS is Combas modular designed flexible distributed antenna
system, with full bandwidth to support multi-operator scenarios. The modular MU can
support mobile operators for new LTE bands upgrade extremely effectively, while the
compact RU is designed to support LTE MIMO together with 2G and 3G and ensure zero
power unbalance between 2 channels.
The low power RU with 27dBm to 33dBm provides accurate coverage to maximize LTE
performance.

Figure 15: ComFlex Low Power Products

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ABOUT COMBA TELECOM

Comba Telecom is a leading supplier of infrastructure and wireless enhancement solutions
to mobile operators and enterprises to enhance and extend their wireless communications
networks.

With over 50,000 system deployments around the world including turnkey

in-building systems, urban/rural wireless systems, and transport wireless networks, Comba
Telecoms end-to-end network solutions include consultation, network design, optimization
and commissioning.
Comba Telecoms product portfolio includes DAS, small cells, tower mounted systems,
antennas, subsystems, passive accessories, Wi-Fi systems and digital microwave links.
Listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Comba Telecom is headquartered in Hong Kong
and has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.
To learn more, visit www.comba-telecom.com and follow Comba Telecom on LinkedIn for
regular updates.

www.comba-telecom.com

marketing@comba-telecom.com

2016 Comba Telecom. All Rights Reserved

2016 Comba Telecom. All rights reserved. Comba Telecom reserves the right to change, modify, transfer, or otherwise revise this publication and the
product specifications without notice. While Comba Telecom uses commercially reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of the specifications contained in
this document, Comba Telecom and its affiliated companies will assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. Nothing in this publication forms