UNIVERSITATEA POLITEHNICA TIMISOARA

Facultatea de Electronica si Telecomunicatii

LTE MIMO

Coordonator

Studenti:

(Grade)Balint Cornel
Bogdan

Bontea Ionut
Nastase Valentin
Marius

~ 2016 ~

Cuprins

1. Introduction
2. Theoretich concept
a. What is MIMO
b. LTE MIMO Modes
c. Spatial multiplexing with two antennas
3. Practical study (2x2)
4. Conclusion
5. Bibliograf

Introduction

With applications including social media, highdefnition video

streaming, mobile banking, and full-featured web browsing, broadband
cellular applications provide exciting opportunities for consumers and
network operators alike. However, these data-intensive applications also
create new bandwidth delivery challenges for mobile operators. In order to
expand available wireless network capacity to meet the demands of dataintensive applications, operators have invested heavily in acquiring radio
frequency bandwidth.
Even so, RF spectrum remains a fnite resource, with the industry as a
whole facing a spectrum crunch, as acknowledged the United States Federal
Communications Commission chairman, Julius Genachowski. 1 Therefore,
network operators must look to new technologies such as LTE to generate
more throughput from existing bandwidth.
While LTE can provide increased capacity using standard antenna
techniques, widespread deployment and optimization of MIMO (Multiple-Input
Multiple-Output) antenna techniques can have a multiplicative effect on LTEs
data throughput. MIMO techniques, in turn, present their own unique
challenges, requiring a new approach to network
measurement and
optimization.
The explosive growth of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems
has permitted for high data rate and a wide variety of applications. Some of
the technologies which rely on these systems are IEEE 802.11, Third
Generation (3G) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) ones. Recent advances in
wireless communication systems have contributed to the design of multiuser scenarios with MIMO communication.
These communication systems are referred as multi-user MIMOs. Such
systems are intended for the development of new generations of wireless
mobile radio systems for future cellular radio standards.

What Is MIMO?
MIMO stands for Multiple-Input Multiple-Output, meaning that MIMO
systems use more than one transmit antenna (Tx) to send a signal on the
same frequency to more than one receive antenna (Rx). Although MIMO has
been deployed for years in WLAN networks, 2 it is a relatively new feature in
commercial wireless networks. MIMO technology is a standard feature of
next-generation LTE networks, and it is a major piece of LTEs promise to
signifcantly boost data rates and overall system capacity.
However, MIMO also represents a new challenge for network operators.
Traditional cellular networks generally provide the best service under line-of2

sight conditions. MIMO thrives under rich scattering conditions, where signals
bounce around the environment. Under rich scattering conditions, signals
from different Tx take multiple paths to reach the user equipment (UE) at
different times, as shown in Figure 1.
In order to achieve promised throughputs in LTE systems, operators
must optimize their networks multipath conditions for MIMO, targeting both
rich scattering conditions and high SNR for each multipath signal. This
optimization process requires accurate measurement of these multipath
conditions in order to achieve the best performance for a given environment
while avoiding the time and expense of guesswork. With strong
measurements, however, an optimized
MIMO system can result in massive throughput gains without the
expenses associated with adding spectrum or eNodeBs.MIMO technology has
its roots in more widely deployed antenna techniques. MIMO builds on SingleInput Multiple-Output (SIMO), also called receive diversity, as well as
Multiple-Input Single-Output (MISO), also called transmit diversity. SIMO
techniques have been around for decades, while MISO is used in most
advanced cellular networks today.
Both of these techniques seek to boost signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in
order to compensate for signal degradation. As a radio frequency (RF) signal
passes from Tx to Rx, it gradually weakens, while interference from other RF
signals also reduces SNR. In addition, in crowded environments,
the RF signal frequently encounters objects which will alter its path or
degrade the signal. Multiple-antenna systems can compensate for some of
the loss of SNR due to multipath conditions by combining signals that have
different fading characteristics, since the path from each antenna will be
slightly different.
SIMO and MISO systems achieve SNR gain by combining signals that
take multiple paths to the Tx and Rx in a constructive manner, taking the
best piece of each signal.3 Because different antennas receive or transmit
the same signal, these systems can achieve SNR gains even in line of sight
situations. The boost in SNR can then be used to increase the range of the
connection or boost data rates by using a modulation scheme such as
16QAM or 64QAM rather than QPSK.

Figure. 1
MIMO can work as a combination of SIMO and MISO techniques,
resulting in even greater SNR gains, further boosting coverage and data
rates. However, when SNR is high, additional
throughput gains are minimal, and there is little beneft from further boosting
SNR. To achieve throughput gains where SNR is already very high, LTE uses a
MIMO technique called spatial multiplexing. In spatial multiplexing, each Tx
sends a different data stream to multiple Rx.
These data streams are then reconstructed separately by the UE. It
may seem counterintuitive that two signals sent at the same time and
frequency within the same sector can result in increased throughput rather
than interference. However, spatial multiplexing can be compared to
conventional spectrum re-use, where signals are transmitted in the same
frequency in different cells. For spectrum re-use, the cells must be far
enough apartthat is, they must occupy different spacein order to avoid
interference. With spatial multiplexing, the signals, instead of occupying a
completely different cell, occupy different space-time in the same cell.
Good multipath conditions create the signal orthogonality that
effectively turns a single cell into multiple cells with respect to the amount of
data that can be sent on a particular frequency band. In addition to good
multipath conditions, spatial multiplexing depends on high SNR to produce
large throughput gains. In spatial multiplexing, even though multiple data
streams are transmitted, the total power of the transmission remains the
same.
Essentially, spatial multiplexing distributes the total SNR between
these multiple data streams, each of which has a lower power level. The
result is that each data stream contains a lower SNR than would be possible
with a single data stream. However, because there are diminishing returns
for additional SNR when SNR is already high , each of the multiple data
4

streams may be capable of transmitting nearly as much data as a single

stream.
The increased data capacity that results from sharing SNR between
multiple data streams means that, while spatial multiplexing may be used to
encode the same data differently and boost SNR of the recombined data
streams, it can also be used to send completely different data through each
Tx.
In LTE, each set of data sent through the antennas in a spatial
multiplexing operation is called a layer. Under ideal conditions, each layer of
a spatial multiplexing transmission will contain as much data as a single-Tx
LTE transmission. The result is that spatial multiplexing can theoretically
multiply throughput by the transmission rank. This multiplicative effect on
throughput means that MIMO technology is essential for achieving the full
benefts of LTE.
With the 2x2 (2 Tx and 2 Rx) antenna confguration expected to be
deployed initially, effective use of MIMO could nearly double throughput both
for individual users and for each cell as a whole. However, these throughput
gains depend on three factors: maximizing rich scattering conditions within a
cell, confguring the eNodeB to properly match MIMO settings to real-world
conditions, and ensuring that UEs can take full advantage of the multipath
conditions that are present.
Scanning receivers that can provide accurate real-world measurements
of multipath conditions and potential throughput are essential tools for
evaluating the performance of all three of these factors. With these
measurements, mobile operators can maximize the data rates and reliability
of LTE networks, resulting in a premium return on their LTE equipment
investments while improving customer satisfaction.

LTE MIMO modes

The use of MIMO technology has been introduced successively over the
different releases of the LTE standards. MIMO has been a cornerstone of the
LTE standard, but initially, in releases 8 and 9 multiple transmit antennas on
the UE was not supported because in the interested of power reduction, only
a single RF power amplifer was assumed to be available.
It was in Rel. 10 that a number of new schemes were introduced.
Closed loop spatial multiplexing for SU-MIMO as well as multiple antennas on
the UE.

There are several ways in which MIMO is implemented in LTE. These vary
according to the equipment used, the channel function and the equipment
involved in the link.

Single antenna: This is the form of wireless transmission used on

most basic wireless links. A single data stream is transmitted on one
antenna and received by one or more antennas. It may also be referred
to as SISO: Single In Single Out or SIMO Single In Multiple Out
dependent upon the antennas used. SIMO is also called receive
diversity.

Transmit diversity: This form of LTE MIMO scheme utilises the

transmission of the same information stream from multiple antennas.
LTE supports two or four for this technique.. The information is coded
differently using Space Frequency Block Codes. This mode provides an
improvement in signal quality at reception and does not improve the
data rate. Accordingly this form of LTE MIMO is used on the Common
Channels as well as the Control and Broadcast channels.

Open loop spatial multiplexing: This form of MIMO used within the
LTE system involves sending two information streams which can be
transmitted over two or more antennas. However there is no feedback
from the UE although a TRI, Transmit Rank Indicator transmitted from
the UE can be used by the base station to determine the number of
spatial layers.

Close loop spatial multiplexing : This form of LTE MIMO is similar

to the open loop version, but as the name indicates it has feedback
incorporated to close the loop. A PMI, Pre-coding Matrix Indicator is fed
back from the UE to the base station. This enables the transmitter to
pre-code the data to optimise the transmission and enable the receiver
to more easily separate the different data streams.

Closed loop with pre-coding: This is another form of LTE MIMO, but
where a single code word is transmitted over a single spatial layer. This
can be sued as a fall-back mode for closed loop spatial multiplexing
and it may also be associated with beamforming as well.

Multi-User MIMO, MU-MIMO: This form of LTE MIMO enables the

system to target different spatial streams to different users.

Beam-forming: This is the most complex of the MIMO modes and it

is likely to use linear arrays that will enable the antenna to focus on a
particular area. This will reduce interference, and increase capacity as
the particular UE will have a beam formed in their particular direction.
6

In this a single code word is transmitted over a single spatial layer. A

dedicated reference signal is used for an additional port. The terminal
estimates the channel quality from the common reference signals on
the antennas.

Spatial multiplexing with two antennas

Figure 2 shows the typically spatial multiplexing antenna setup for two
antennas.

Figure 2: 2x2 MIMO

Layer mapping
The block modulation mapper assigns a modulation to every code
word; in other words, all of the symbols associated with a code word are
modulated the same. For two layers, all of the symbols from the frst code
word are mapped to layer 0 and all of the symbols from the second code
word are mapped to Layer 1.
Pre-coding
The layers (symbols) are multiplied by a predefned matrix based on
the codebook index provided in Table 1 and then distributed to the individual
resource blocks (OFDMA signals) and thus to the antennas.

Table 1: Codebook for spatial multiplexing with two antennas

Examples
Figure 3 shows a simple confguration with one code word, one layer,
and two antennas. The individual symbols of the code word are mapped
directly to the individual layer: The pre-coding distributes the symbols 1:1 to
the antenna paths; i.e., both antennas transmit the same signal. One FSx is
sufficient for demodulation, and the two antennas can be measured
sequentially.

Figure 3: Pre-coding one CW, one layer, index 0

Figure 4 shows two (differently) modulated code words, (1) QPSK and
(2) 16QAM. The code words are mapped directly to the two layers. The precoding based on codebook index 0 distributes the layers directly to the
8

antennas; i.e., antenna 1 transmits the user data with QPSK modulation in
the PDSCH, while antenna 2 is modulated with 16QAM. One FSx is also
sufficient for demodulation in this case because the two layers are not
mixed.

Figure 4: Pre-coding two CWs, two layers, index 0

Figure 5 shows two (differently) modulated code words, (1) QPSK and
(2) 16QAM. The code words are mapped directly to the two layers. The precoding based on codebook index 1 distributes the mixed layers to the
antennas, and the antennas transmit a mixed modulation. Two FSx units are
required to demodulate the signal because the two layers are mixed by the
pre-coding.

Figure 5: Pre-coding two CWs, two layers, index 1

Cyclic delay diversity (CDD)
Cyclic Delay Diversity (CDD) mode is also provided for spatial
multiplexing. In this case, multiplication with matrices D(i) and U is carried
out in addition to pre-coding matrix W as per Table 2.
9

Table 2: CDD pre-coding with two antennas

The additional multiplication mixes the two layers, and the second
layer is additionally phase-rotated. With this shifting additional multi-path is
added on the channel. Because the two layers are mixed, two FSx units are
required for demodulation.

Practical study
For practical study of a MIMO with 2x2 it was used Space-Time Block
Coding with Channel Estimation.
Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems, which use multiple
antennas at the transmitter and receiver ends of a wireless communication
system. MIMO systems are increasingly being adopted in communication
systems for the potential gains in capacity they realize when using multiple
antennas. Multiple antennas use the spatial dimension in addition to the time
and frequency ones, without changing the bandwidth requirements of the
system.
Using the flat-fading Rayleigh channel, it illustrates the concept of
Orthogonal Space-Time Block Coding,which is employable when multiple
transmitter antennas are used. It is assumed here that the channel
undergoes independent fading between the multiple transmit-receive
antenna pairs.
For a chosen system, it also provides a measure of the performance
degradation when the channel is imperfectly estimated at the receiver,
compared to the case of perfect channel knowledge at the receiver.
First step is to defning the common simulation parameters
frmLen = 100;
maxNumErrs = 300;
maxNumPackets = 3000;
EbNo = 0:2:12;

%
%
%
%

frame length
maximum number of errors
maximum number of packets
Eb/No varying to 12 dB

10

N = 2;
M = 2;
pLen = 8;
W = hadamard(pLen);
pilots = W(:, 1:N);

% number of Tx antennas
% number of Rx antennas
% number of pilot symbols per frame
% orthogonal set per transmit antenna

Second step is to set up the simulation.

hStr = RandStream('mt19937ar', 'Seed', 55408);

Create BPSK mod-demod objects

P = 2;
% modulation order
bpskmod = modem.pskmod('M', P, 'SymbolOrder', 'Gray');
bpskdemod = modem.pskdemod(bpskmod);

Now we have to set up a fgure for visualizing BER results

h = gcf;
clf(h); grid on; hold on;
set(gca,'yscale','log','xlim',[EbNo(1), EbNo(end)],'ylim',[1e-4 1]);
xlabel('Eb/No (dB)'); ylabel('BER'); set(h,'NumberTitle','off');
set(h,'Name','Orthogonal Space-Time Block Coding');
set(h, 'renderer', 'zbuffer'); title('G2-coded 2x2 System');
for idx = 1:length(EbNo)
numPackets = 0; totNumErr22 = 0; totNumErr22_e = 0;

while (totNumErr22 < maxNumErrs) && (totNumErr22_e < maxNumErrs) && ...
(numPackets < maxNumPackets)
data = randi(hStr, [0 P-1], frmLen, 1); % data vector per user
% per channel
tx = modulate(bpskmod, data);
% BPSK modulation
% Alamouti Space-Time Block Encoder, G2, full rate
% G2 = [s1 s2; -s2* s1*]
s1 = tx(1:N:end); s2 = tx(2:N:end);
tx2(1:N:end, :) = [s1 s2];
tx2(2:N:end, :) = [-conj(s2) conj(s1)];
% Prepend pilot symbols for each frame
transmit = [pilots; tx2];
% Create the Rayleigh distributed channel response matrix
H(1, :, :) = (randn(hStr, N, M) + 1i*randn(hStr, N, M))/sqrt(2);
%
assume held constant for the whole frame and pilot symbols
H = H(ones(pLen + frmLen, 1), :, :);
% Received signal for each Rx antenna
%
with pilot symbols transmitted
for i = 1:M
% with normalized Tx power
r(:, i) = awgn(sum(H(:, :, i).*transmit, 2)/sqrt(N), ...
EbNo(idx), 0, hStr);
end

11

% Channel Estimation
%
For each link => N*M estimates
for n = 1:N
H_e(1, n, :) = (r(1:pLen, :).' * pilots(:, n))./pLen;
end
%
assume held constant for the whole frame
H_e = H_e(ones(frmLen, 1), :, :);
% Combiner using estimated channel
heidx = 1:N:length(H_e);
for i = 1:M
z1_e(:, i) = r(pLen+1:N:end, i).* conj(H_e(heidx, 1, i)) + ...
conj(r(pLen+2:N:end, i)).* H_e(heidx, 2, i);
z2_e(:, i) = r(pLen+1:N:end, i).* conj(H_e(heidx, 2, i)) - ...
conj(r(pLen+2:N:end, i)).* H_e(heidx, 1, i);
end
z_e(1:N:end, :) = z1_e; z_e(2:N:end, :) = z2_e;
% Combiner using known channel
hidx = pLen+1:N:length(H);
for i = 1:M
z1(:, i) = r(pLen+1:N:end, i).* conj(H(hidx, 1, i)) + ...
conj(r(pLen+2:N:end, i)).* H(hidx, 2, i);
z2(:, i) = r(pLen+1:N:end, i).* conj(H(hidx, 2, i)) - ...
conj(r(pLen+2:N:end, i)).* H(hidx, 1, i);

end
z(1:N:end, :) = z1; z(2:N:end, :) = z2;

% ML Detector (minimum Euclidean distance)

demod22_e = demodulate(bpskdemod, sum(z_e, 2)); % estimated
demod22
= demodulate(bpskdemod, sum(z, 2));
% known
% Determine errors
numPackets = numPackets + 1;
totNumErr22_e = totNumErr22_e + biterr(demod22_e, data);
totNumErr22
= totNumErr22 + biterr(demod22, data);
end % end of FOR loop for numPackets
% Calculate BER for current idx
%
for estimated channel
BER22_e(idx) = totNumErr22_e/(numPackets*frmLen);
%
for known channel
BER22(idx) = totNumErr22/(numPackets*frmLen);
% Plot results
semilogy(EbNo(1:idx), BER22_e(1:idx), 'ro');
semilogy(EbNo(1:idx), BER22(1:idx),
'g*');
legend(['Channel estimated with ' num2str(pLen) ' pilot
symbols/frame'],...
'Known channel');
drawnow;

12

end

% end of for loop for EbNo

% Perform curve fitting and replot the results

fitBER22_e = berfit(EbNo, BER22_e);
fitBER22 = berfit(EbNo, BER22);
semilogy(EbNo, fitBER22_e, 'r', EbNo, fitBER22, 'g'); hold off;

With 8 pilot symbols for each 100 symbols of data, channel estimation
causes about a 1 dB degradation in performance for the selected Eb/No
range. This improves with an increase in the number of pilot symbols per
frame but adds to the overhead of the link. In this comparison, we keep the
transmitted SNR per symbol to be the same in both cases.

Conclusion
13

MIMO is a key component of next-generation wireless technologies and

provides the bulk of LTEs peak throughput gains when compared with older
technologies. However, MIMO gains can only be realized on a fully optimized
network.
MIMO optimization requires a different approach to traditional network
optimization, with assessment of multipath conditions playing a key role in
determining the potential throughput provided by a MIMO-enabled LTE
network.
Optimizing an LTE network for MIMO therefore requires a new set of
scanning receiver parameters, including multipath CINR measurements, CN,
and CQI for all key MIMO modes. PCTELs SeeGull Scanning Receivers provide
high-quality data for all of these MIMO parameters, enabling network
operators to construct an accurate picture of MIMO LTE networks.
Operators can use the knowledge gained from analyzing scanning
receiver MIMO data to improve conditions in the current network through
antenna and eNodeB adjustments. Scanning receiver data can also be used
to evaluate the performance of UEs and eNodeB MIMO mode selection.
Finally, accurate data on multipath conditions in existing LTE networks can
lead to better planning of future MIMO-capable networks.
This knowledge will become increasingly valuable as more users
depend on LTE to provide the data rates they need for wireless applications
from mobile banking to high-defnition video streaming.
Operators that maximize the performance of MIMO in their LTE
networks will be able to provide the best service to these users with the
smallest amount of infrastructure investment, providing a clear competitive
advantage in both price and quality of service.

Bibliograf
1

Brian Stetler, F.C.C. Chairman: We Need to Auction Off More Spectrum,

Gadgetwise
(blog),
New
York
Times,
January
7,
2011,
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/fcc-chair-we-need-toauction-off-more-spectrum/.
2
3G Americas, MIMO Transmission Schemes for LTE and HSPA Networks (3G
Americas, June 2009), 5.
3
Arunabha Ghosh, Jun Zhang, Jeffrey G. Andrews, and Rias Muhamed,
Fundamentals of LTE (Boston, MA: Pearson Education, 2010), 168.

14