Keysight Technologies has announced the successful verification of category 12 data rates with just two component carriers using the UXM’s new downlink 4x4 MIMO capabilities. Using two 20 MHz component carriers, 64 QAM downlink modulation, and 4x4 downlink MIMO techniques, Keysight demonstrated 600 Mbps downlink rates using two UXM wireless test sets connected in an array.
The UXM is a powerful platform designed to handle higher-order MIMO, such as 4x4 and beyond, as well as the advanced modulation formats and multiple-carrier techniques required to deliver the full potential of LTE-Advanced. Along with 4x4 DL MIMO, the latest UXM release also includes support for Transmission Mode 9 (TM9). TM9, introduced in Release 10 of the 3GPP specifications, was designed to better exploit the use of multiple antennas and beamforming, enabling improved interference management.
Additionally, Keysight announced extensive updates to the UXM’s built-in channel emulator, which now uniquely includes spatial channel models (UMi and UMa) allowing developers to characterize & verify device performance under more realistic conditions.
MIMO enables higher data rates, increased capacity and improved performance at cell edges via multiple transmit and receive antennas. Building on the 2x2 MIMO inherent in LTE systems, LTE-Advanced introduced increased numbers of transmit and receive antennas, up to 8x8 downlink MIMO and 4x4 uplink MIMO configurations. Combined with carrier aggregation and advanced modulation schemes, higher-order MIMO promises to provide an improved mobile experience for subscribers.
