What is massive MIMO (mMIMO) in 5G?

My friend: Hi Ibrahim, I have a question for you.

Me: Go ahead.

My friend: What is meant exactly by mMIMO?

Me: Actually, mMIMO is a MIMO system with high number of antennas (dozens or more than 100 elements) at BTS. So, simply the basic principle behind mMIMO is to get all the benefits of conventional MIMO, but on a much greater scale.

My friend: So, is it a new technology used in 5G?

Me: No, it is already available before in LTE. But for 5G, it is an essential key to achieve the target performance.

My friend: What are the benefits of mMIMO?

Me: Many benefits, 1st one is improved coverage as using many antenna elements can allow for efficient beamforming so, users can expect high data rates everywhere, even we call it 3D beamforming as beams are controlled horizontally and vertically and so adjusts the coverage to suit user location, even in locations that have relatively weak coverage.

2nd one is higher capacity by serving more users with MU-MIMO which we already discussed (please check the below link). And due to the above two reasons, user experience is enhanced.

More information about Multi user Mimo in our last article here.

My friend: Thanks a lot.

Me: You are most welcomed.

Please share this information to spread it and make sure it is clear for everyone, and check here our last post.

Source: Ibrahim Sayed

Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibrahim-sayed-88a7747-5g/