Nokia’s Bell Labs will be validating distributed massive MIMO (DmMIMO) with AT&T, an innovation that significantly increases uplink capacity and speeds in 5G networks without requiring an overly complex solution.
Nokia said DmMIMO allows devices to use signal propagation to multiple cells or antenna panels in a network when establishing a link, turning noise into a useful signal and increasing the uplink throughput.

The data transmission is pieced together from multiple antenna panels and cell sites through distributed baseband processing. The processing load between the cell site radio units and the central processing unit is split in a novel way, reducing the fronthaul capacity to cell sites and hence lowering the cost.

Nokia is collaborating with AT&T on the validation of DmMIMO and testing the technology in the AT&T labs. Bell Labs’s DmMIMO simulations have demonstrated increases in 5G uplink capacity between 60% and 90% compared to similarly configured systems with a single panel.

“Distributed massive MIMO will be a critical element of networking in the 5G-Advanced era with gains in uplink without a hit to downlink performance. Three decades ago, Bell Labs and AT&T invented MIMO, so it is only fitting that we continue this groundbreaking work together for the next generation of MIMO,” Nishant Batra, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, Nokia, said.

“Applications in the 5G-Advanced timeframe, such as eXtended Reality (XR), are expected to be more demanding on the uplink compared to regular broadband traffic. Technologies such as distributed massive MIMO show potential to improve uplink capacity,” Andre Fuetsch, Executive Vice President & CTO Network Services, AT&T, said.

The move to DmMIMO has the potential to alter the configuration of networks by facilitating deployments with smaller antenna arrays per site. This will lower weight, which in turn will result in smaller and lighter components as well as reduced power consumption.

In alternate configurations, DmMIMO can also be used to boost downlink capacity, granting operators incredible flexibility in how they deploy the technology, Nokia said in a news statement.