As 5G standards progress, beamforming, mmWave technology are key
While groups like 3GPP and the ITU push for standardization of 5G mobile network technology by 2020, new use cases and mobile services taking shape today are helping inform the specifications that will ultimately define 5G.
Despite the lack of standardization, many industry stakeholders agree that 5G will be marked by an enhanced mobile broadband experience with multi-gigabit data rates to the handset, massive machine-type communications associated with the booming Internet of Things and ultra-reliable, low-latency networks to support mission and safety critical applications.
Similar to these broad goals of 5G, key technological components will be high-frequency millimeter wave spectrum, which provides the potential for high-capacity, but with challenging propagation characteristics that emphasize the need for advanced beamforming techniques.
In a video presentation, Reiner Stuhlfauth, technology marketing manager for Rohde & Schwarz, explained that with 4G, the technology came first and the applications came later. For instance, 4G provided the framework for advanced mobile data services, which set the stage for the current explosion in mobile video traffic.
But 5G will be different, Stuhlfauth said. “It will be completely turned around. In the first step, we talk about what do we want? What services do we want to offer and what kind of requirements does this technology need to provide? Followed by that, we have to think about which technology aspects can fulfill those requirements.”
He also pointed out that the diverse use cases associated with 5G will need to fit into one overarching standard. Consider the incredibly high capacity and low latency requirements associated with fleets of autonomous vehicles communicating with one another, smart infrastructure and the physical world; on the other hand, think of industrial sensors sending small packets of data to an analytics platform at fixed intervals. The requirements are totally different but both are under the umbrella of 5G.
“It’s not like 5G will be one single technology,” Stuhlfauth said. “LTE, LTE-Advanced evolution is strongly heading into that direction. We can consider LTE to be the trailblazer for what services we consider 5G, like broadcast, network densification, higher data rates, machine type communication, energy efficiency, some kind of MIMO beamforming technology; all these are aspects where LTE prepares the way for 5G.”
Taken as a whole, the variety of use cases, coupled with ever-increasing network complexity and consumer demand for quality of experience, create a new dynamic around test and measurement for 5G. Rohde & Schwarz has conducted extensive research into important operative areas like channel sounding for millimeter waves and direction of arrival/direction of departure.
In a paper focused on DoA/DoD, the authors noted that multi-antenna beamforming and MIMO will be central to 5G systems operating in the 6 GHz to 100 GHz millimeter wave bands. “Measurement and description of spatial channel information…is of high relevance for mm-wave system design and channel modeling,” Stuhlfauth said.
Rohde & Schwarz is also working to understand the channel sounding needs that 5G will create.
From another recent paper: “Channel sounders that could provide statistically reliable measurement data with directional information at multiple frequencies for time-variant channels and are not yet available. In order to establish a firm data basis, it is necessary to pool available channel measurement data. With regard to coherent evaluations and the optimization of measurement results, channel sounder characterization is of utmost importance.”
Rohde & Schwarz offers a full line of test and measurement products, designed for both 5G and legacy network technologies including wideband signal generation and analysis, waveforms, millimeter wave component characterization, channel sounding and more.
Click here for a range of 5G-focused videos focused on new types of data traffic, spectrum needs, infrastructure trends, duplex methods and more.
