Massive-Element Antenna for Small Cell Solutions in 5G

Various innovations are expected to drive the evolution of cellular systems towards the 5th Generation (5G). In this paper, NEC proposes a new concept, virtualization of cells. This concept is based on Centralized/Could-Radio Access Network (C-RAN) and advanced techniques in spatial domain. The proposed architecture helps to fully exploit the radio resources and efficiently utilize network process resources. The benefits of a massive element antenna implementation to virtualized small cells are discussed here. The experimental results from a proof of concept demonstrated that our enhanced beamforming achieved high system throughput. NEC will continue to address the challenges of 5G cellular networks leveraging the proposed architecture.