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Anatomy of a Sprint Triband Hexadecaport (16 port) Antenna Setup

lilotimz

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Tim Yu
Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
January 26, 2018 - 5:30 AM PST

[Edited: 1/28/18 to include additional information on Samsung 4 port 800 MHz radio]
[Edited: 2/2/18 for photograph addition of an Ericsson setup]

The Triband Hexadecaport. The newest development of Sprint's recent network expenditures.

This is a new triband antenna configuration now being deployed by Sprint that is able to do 4T4R MIMO on both 800 MHz and 1900 MHz in addition to 8T8R MIMO over 2.5 GHz. All in one single antenna.

Previously, Sprint typically utilized two different antennas with one from Network Vision days being a hexport dual band unit that supports 800 MHz and 1900 MHz. While 2.5 GHz was an additional antenna and radio unit added on later. Some sites utilized (and may continue to utilize) another triband antenna model.  This older generation triband antenna is a decaport (10 port) triband unit that support 4T4R on both 1900 MHz and 2.5 GHz with 2T2R on 800 MHz. This meant that an 8T8R radio would have its capabilities decreased as a result of going from 8T8R to 4T4R. 

With the development and deployment of this new 16 port triband antenna, Sprint is now poised to offer 800 MHz 4 antenna transmit and receive diversity alongside 1900 MHz, while 2.5 GHz is able to fully utilize the capability of an 8T8R radio.

This means that the full capability of Sprint's 800 MHz, 1900 MHz, and LTE Plus (2.5 GHz) network can be utilized from a single triband antenna panel.  Removing the limitations of the previous go-to triband antenna model. Because of these limitations, Sprint did not deploy the previous triband antenna panel in a wide scale.  Now they are likely to deploy these more commonly.  In fact, we are already seeing this occur in Washington State, Pittsburgh, and other places en masse.

S4McUPl.jpg

Above:  Samsung 4T4R 800 MHz setup via two 800 MHz RRH-C2, 4T4R 1900 MHz RRH-P4 , & 8T8R 2.5 GHz RRH-V3 
Photograph Source: Josh (ingenium)

Currently, this type of setup has been found in Samsung vendor regions with two individual 2T2R 800 MHz RRUs to achieve 4T4R MIMO. Samsung and Sprint has a new 4 port 4T4R 800 MHz RRU that will be able to do the job of two existing 2T2R 800 MHz RRUs that will be deployed alongside this new type of antenna. This new Samsung 4 port low frequency radio is also available in Band 13 750 MHz for deployment in the Puerto Rico market due to the Sprint Open Mobile deal.

njp2aqd.jpg
Photograph Source: Chris92 
Ericsson Setup
Hn7E7wT.jpg
Source: mdob07

This type of setup is yet to be seen in Ericsson or Nokia - Alcatel-Lucent territory.  If you discover these in other vendor regions, be sure to post about it!


****If you're in Ericsson or Nokia / former Alcatel-lucent territory then replace the Samsung radios with the relevant Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent CDMA / LTE and Ericsson radios depending on region.***

 

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lilotimz
15 minutes ago, utiz4321 said:

Are the current 1900 and 800 dual bamd antennas capable of 4t4r 800? 

Quote

Previously, Sprint typically utilized two different antennas with one from Network Vision days being a hexport dual band unit that supports 800 MHz and 1900 MHz. 

Not unless they double up antenna / radios. 

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CrossedSignals

Is this setup a prelude to massive MIMO in that they would add multiple antennas/RRUs to get to the 64T64R or will there be hexecontatetraport (64 port :) ) setup at some point?

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bigmachine

I noticed this while driving, so I don't have a picture, but it looks like Sprint is also using a different antenna in LA Metro.  It wasn't the KMW antenna pictured here, but it had more beveled front edges and was mounted next to an existing NV 800/1900 panel.  Is there a scenario where a 12 port antenna + the existing NV antenna would be used instead of a single hexadecaport antenna?  (It had more ports than an 8T8R antenna, but it didn't look quite look like 16.)

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lilotimz
1 hour ago, bigmachine said:

I noticed this while driving, so I don't have a picture, but it looks like Sprint is also using a different antenna in LA Metro.  It wasn't the KMW antenna pictured here, but it had more beveled front edges and was mounted next to an existing NV 800/1900 panel.  Is there a scenario where a 12 port antenna + the existing NV antenna would be used instead of a single hexadecaport antenna?  (It had more ports than an 8T8R antenna, but it didn't look quite look like 16.)

It's a 10 port 8T8R 2.5 + 2T2R 800 setup. I'm writing something on that soon as well. Probably posted sometime next week..

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pghwireless

Tested the one of these in Pittsburgh on b26 and b41. It was the first time I ever surpassed 200mbps on b41. Throughput on b26 impressed me as well. The downlink throughput was close to a theoretical maximum for 5x5 MHz wide channel -- 37.4mbps. I think it is safe to assume that the cell was nearly empty.

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It is TM3-OL SM and 2x2 MIMO, despite having 2 RRUs for 4t4r configuration on 800MHz. If the eNB was capable of 4x4 MIMO, it would be displayed as 4x2 MIMO, since there is no devices that can do 4x4 MIMO on low-band spectrum.

I was able to get 202mbps out of b41, which certainly impressed me. 

e1519a88-31c8-4e9c-afdb-33c0958f3296

 

P.S.: 800MHz layer seems to be much more optimized than 1900 layer. I could easily get 25-30dB SINR on b26, while it was a struggle to find a spot with SINR above 20dB on b25.

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Brad The Beast
On 4/5/2018 at 2:22 PM, pghwireless said:

Tested the one of these in Pittsburgh on b26 and b41. It was the first time I ever surpassed 200mbps on b41. Throughput on b26 impressed me as well. The downlink throughput was close to a theoretical maximum for 5x5 MHz wide channel -- 37.4mbps. I think it is safe to assume that the cell was nearly empty.

8190581815254425978%253Faccount_id%253D0

It is TM3-OL SM and 2x2 MIMO, despite having 2 RRUs for 4t4r configuration on 800MHz. If the eNB was capable of 4x4 MIMO, it would be displayed as 4x2 MIMO, since there is no devices that can do 4x4 MIMO on low-band spectrum.

I was able to get 202mbps out of b41, which certainly impressed me. 

e1519a88-31c8-4e9c-afdb-33c0958f3296

 

P.S.: 800MHz layer seems to be much more optimized than 1900 layer. I could easily get 25-30dB SINR on b26, while it was a struggle to find a spot with SINR above 20dB on b25.

Better than the -7db SINR I get at my apartment lol

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