Cobham works with China Mobile to develop 5G Massive MIMO

Cobham Wireless delivers 5G NR network test capabilities for China Mobile’s 5G trial

STEVENAGE, UK, BEIJING, CHINA – Cobham Wireless today announced that it has delivered its massive MIMO (Multiple-In-Multiple-Out) test solution to China Mobile Research Institute, to enable the operator to benefit from the capacity and performance gains of digital Massive MIMO technology.

The concept of digital Massive MIMO has been introduced in 4.5G technology, vastly improving network capacity and energy efficiency by increasing the number of data signals that can be sent and received. The technology can improve end-user experience by directing signal to areas where there is high-bandwidth demand, and away from areas where less energy is required. However, testing the performance of multiple signals remains a big challenge for the industry.

To address this, Cobham Wireless has worked together with China Mobile Research Institute and developed a scalable, multi-beam Massive MIMO performance test solution. It offers a cost effective and efficient way to validate Massive MIMO core technologies and system functions. It involves testing the technology in a virtualised environment that can simulate hundreds of real world conditions and different beam-based capacity performance scenarios. The solution sets the benchmark for 5G Massive MIMO lab testing, which until now has consisted of simple capacity or limited-scale performance scenarios. The innovative approach to test the Massive MIMO will facilitate to shorten the time to market of 5G NR products for field trial and the later commercial launch.

Dr Guangyi Liu, Chief Technology Officer of Wireless Department, China Mobile Research Institute, said: “Cobham Wireless has an excellent understanding of the requirements of validating 5G Massive MIMO performance and has the ability to innovate and unlock the bottleneck of the industry. This experience will be very important to China Mobile as the company moves towards 5G. It is the excellent partner to ensure the network complies with the new 3GPP 5G specification, whilst validating performance capabilities for Massive MIMO.”

Dr Li-Ke Huang, 5G Research and Technology Director at Cobham Wireless, said: “Cobham Wireless’ test solution is implemented on a software-based validation platform, which can easily adjust to new standards, positioning the operator at the forefront of 5G innovation as its network evolves. We are excited to be working with China Mobile as it sets new benchmarks in the development of 5G.”