Tmobile to use 4x2 MIMO technology in LTE deployment

[ericdabbs]

Tmobile plans to launch 4x2 MIMO antenna technology in hopes to boost LTE network performance at cell edges.  I believe they will be the first major wireless carrier to deploy 4x2 MIMO so it will be interesting to see how the LTE performance will behave in these markets.

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/report-t-mobile-use-4-2-mimo-boost-lte-network-performance/2013-06-05

 

[Conan Kudo]

The 4x2 MIMO is actually 4x4 MIMO operating in 4x2 mode for compatibility with existing UE. Once UE with 4x4 MIMO support become available, the systems can updated to enable it.

[lynyrd65]

Tmobile plans to launch 4x2 MIMO antenna technology in hopes to boost LTE network performance at cell edges.  I believe they will be the first major wireless carrier to deploy 4x2 MIMO so it will be interesting to see how the LTE performance will behave in these markets.

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/report-t-mobile-use-4-2-mimo-boost-lte-network-performance/2013-06-05

I wondered what the plan was there. Their current antennas only support 2x2 MIMO. They look prettier. I guess, to T-Mobile, form trumps function.

 

I have no idea how they will be able to double the antennas they have, most sites around here look full (out of space for new antennas).

[digiblur]

Now if only they could figure out how to cover the interstate and other major areas, like places even Sprint figured out how to cover 10+ years ago, then they would have it made.

[cletus]

Now if only they could figure out how to cover the interstate and other major areas, like places even Sprint figured out how to cover 10+ years ago, then they would have it made.

Yes. This is actually a big problem in Austin. T-Mobile is rolling out LTE here and the speed is fantastic but many places that were unpopulated 10 years ago are down to edge here. I actually borrowed a friends phone for a day to test it on the way to some of my work stops that I make during the week and couldn't stick with it. Particularly north of Austin in the leander/cedar park area and anything S of slaughter. Whereas my Sprint coverage does drop to 3g but it remains usable.

[digiblur]

Yes. This is actually a big problem in Austin. T-Mobile is rolling out LTE here and the speed is fantastic but many places that were unpopulated 10 years ago are down to edge here. I actually borrowed a friends phone for a day to test it on the way to some of my work stops that I make during the week and couldn't stick with it. Particularly north of Austin in the leander/cedar park area and anything S of slaughter. Whereas my Sprint coverage does drop to 3g but it remains usable.

 

Sounds like Sprint here.  They did a partial coverage job based on 1X handsets with pull out antennas back in 2000.  A lot has changed with the cities moving and even entire new cities in the past 13 years.  Only AT&T and Verizon have built out to cover the new areas of the cities, Nextel built out to a few of the areas.  I tried a TMobile handset for kicks a few years ago and quickly returned it the next day, not sure how the few stores here stay in business.  The few times I went there were no customers, kind of like the Sprint stores here.  At least it makes it easy to swoop in and get a phone or service with no wait times and 2-3 people helping you.

[iansltx]

...and the have/have-not issue that is T-Mobile's network continues. Speeds on their network, right up to the edge of upgraded cells, will be pretty phenomenal. Once you hit an un-upgraded site, all bets are off.

 

As for 4x2, my guess is that once T-Mobile finishes their H+/LTE upgrades, the old panels will come down. I'd imagine that the new equipment can broadcast some GSM/EDGE in PCS.

[milan03]

...and the have/have-not issue that is T-Mobile's network continues. Speeds on their network, right up to the edge of upgraded cells, will be pretty phenomenal. Once you hit an un-upgraded site, all bets are off.

 

As for 4x2, my guess is that once T-Mobile finishes their H+/LTE upgrades, the old panels will come down. I'd imagine that the new equipment can broadcast some GSM/EDGE in PCS.

It's actually not the case. Their existing equipment in NSN markets is 4x4 MIMO ready, while Ericsson markets will need extra panels in most cases. All of their BTS are 4x2 4x4 ready in all of their modernized markets, soft upgrade away. If those upgrades required significant work and investment, they wouldn't be talking about it this early.

 

T-Mobile is in a great position to deploy higher order MIMO as early as this year if needed.

[dmchssc]

I thought Sprint was deploying NV to be 4x4 MIMO ready as well?

 

 

[Paynefanbro]

What is Sprint deploying right now?

[WiWavelength]

I have seen nothing to indicate that "4x2 MIMO" is anything but 2x2 MIMO with spatial diversity from two antenna sets.  And spatial diversity is nothing new, is not deserving of the term MIMO, which reflects distinct traffic over separate spatial channels.  If I am incorrect, I would like to see some evidence to the contrary.

 

AJ

[milan03]

4x2 MIMO is very beneficial as you're having two spatially separated dual-polarized antennas, essentially doubling the capacity at the eNodeB, sending 4 streams, still allowing UE to leverage spatial multiplexing on 2 downlink streams. This improves robustness of the connection and user experience overall. Clear benefit is cell edge performance.

This is also very useful for better use of TM4 or Closed Loop Spatial Multiplexing which also slightly improves the overall throughput. 

 

 

Peak rates should be the same, but overall airlink quality should improve. As Neal said earlier, this is half step to 4x4 MIMO which no UE support until we start seeing Category 5 baseband chipsets by the end of 2014 and into 2015. That will effectively double the peak throughput of 20Mhz FDD from 150Mbps to 300Mbps.

[maximus1987/lou99]

Is it really necessary to create another TMO thread? Robert already merged two threads - "Tmobile vs sprint 4g" and "why Tmobile's 4g will kick ..."

 

 

[Paynefanbro]

Is it really necessary to create another TMO thread? Robert already merged two threads - "Tmobile vs sprint 4g" and "why Tmobile's 4g will kick ..."

 

This was made before that. It got bumped up though and people are still responding.

[Mobilesolutions]

4x2 MIMO is very beneficial as you're having two spatially separated dual-polarized antennas, essentially doubling the capacity at the eNodeB, sending 4 streams, still allowing UE to leverage spatial multiplexing on 2 downlink streams. This improves robustness of the connection and user experience overall. Clear benefit is cell edge performance.

This is also very useful for better use of TM4 or Closed Loop Spatial Multiplexing which also slightly improves the overall throughput. 

 

Peak rates should be the same, but overall airlink quality should improve. As Neal said earlier, this is half step to 4x4 MIMO which no UE support until we start seeing Category 5 baseband chipsets by the end of 2014 and into 2015. That will effectively double the peak throughput of 20Mhz FDD from 150Mbps to 300Mbps.

 

 

Any idea on their channel configurations for multi antenna sectors? I would assume an A-B setup is still typical. 

[milan03]

This was made before that. It got bumped up though and people are still responding.

You revived it yourself.

[Paynefanbro]

I know. But by going on, it just keeps getting bumped up.

[maximus1987/lou99]

Robert or someone, please merged thiS to "mainline" TMO.

[koiulpoi]

Is it really necessary to create another TMO thread? Robert already merged two threads - "Tmobile vs sprint 4g" and "why Tmobile's 4g will kick ..."

You've been lurking long enough to have seen those threads? o.o

 

Well, welcome to S4GRU, then! Glad you've started posting

[milan03]

Looks like T-Mobile's 4x2 MIMO is live in their NSN markets like Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago. Other NSN markets are Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Portland, Denver, etc...

 

[Vince]

Looks like T-Mobile's 4x2 MIMO is live in their NSN markets like Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago. Other NSN markets are Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Portland, Denver, etc...

 

I have a buddy that I'll see with a tmo 5s in Chicago this weekend. I'll have to check it out and verify.

[milan03]

I have a buddy that I'll see with a tmo 5s in Chicago this weekend. I'll have to check it out and verify.

Someone from NorthWest Chicago verified already. It's a 10Mhz channel with 4x2. Also, NSN research lab is in Arlington Heights, could be an interesting area to check out.

[milan03]

GigaOm also got the official statement from T-Mobile: http://gigaom.com/2014/04/24/forget-speed-t-mobile-has-started-building-a-more-resilient-lte-network/

 

“We do see the benefits 4×2 MIMO offers and will be deploying this in many cities in 2014 as part of our Wideband LTE rollout,” McDiarmid said in a statement to Gigaom. “All of T-Mobile’s available devices currently support 4×2 MIMO and we’ll ensure that new devices will as well. We believe this will be one of the first deployments by a top carrier network in the US.”

[lilotimz]

GigaOm also got the official statement from T-Mobile: http://gigaom.com/2014/04/24/forget-speed-t-mobile-has-started-building-a-more-resilient-lte-network/

 

“We do see the benefits 4×2 MIMO offers and will be deploying this in many cities in 2014 as part of our Wideband LTE rollout,” McDiarmid said in a statement to Gigaom. “All of T-Mobile’s available devices currently support 4×2 MIMO and we’ll ensure that new devices will as well. We believe this will be one of the first deployments by a top carrier network in the US.”

 

*looks at Sprints active 8T8R B41 deployment*

 

At least they didn't claim they are the absolute first...

 

 Anyhow it'll be a big boom to t-mobile subscribers where they get a signal and hopefully push other vendors to get out advanced mimo equipment faster and in larger numbers. Advancement and implementation of new technologies are always so good to see. 

[digiblur]

At least theirs is easy to find today and isn't just a promise.