The Massive MIMO Deployment Report

An in-depth look at Massive MIMO

The idea of massive MIMO is revolutionary. The fact it’s going to market is exciting. We all looked at 5G, then overlooked how we were going to get there, solve the problems that 5G is introducing. Here is an overview of massive MIMO and what to expect now that all the smart people have made it a reality.

The report is available at:


I have a blog that I pulled a majority of this information from. It served as the foundation for what you’re reading here.

The report starts out with explanations of MIMO then massive MIMO so that you understand what it is and how it will work. It also gives an understanding of why it’s being deployed.

Then the report covers beamforming. This had to be broken out and explained so that you understood what makes massive MIMO so special. This is an extreme kind of beamforming that will revolutionize the way macro sites communicate with the UE device. The end user wants more bandwidth, but that’s not what they really want. They want steady and reliable bandwidth to their device. Massive MIMO enables that to happen.

Then, we cover the network. What good is a kick-ass wireless link if your backhaul is crap? Not much!

The report gets into more ways to deploy massive MIMO and an overview of what they are and if massive MIMO makes sense. You probably want to consider how what, and where massive MIMO can be deployed. It’s a good idea to see if CRAN and small cells will be part of the massive MIMO ecosystem.

Small Cell Cover 4The next section is going to look at how deployment on towers and rooftops will be influenced by massive MIMO systems. I get asked all the time about the tower and how tower companies will react. It’s not necessarily the tower companies that will be concerned about the new equipment. It’s how the equipment is deployed and in what spectrum. How will installers deal with the new equipment? How will site acquisition companies work on this and what new costs will be incurred by rolling out massive MIMO. All of this is covered.

Speaking of deploying, why does size matter and what is the determining factor of size? Well, it’s spectrum among other things. Also, TDD or FDD and why it matters. This rolls into the spectrum section which is just an overview of what is out there and yet to come, in the USA at least.

This rolls into new business models for the carriers. The new business models depend on fixed or mobile systems being deployed. Which will be the 5G focus first?

Of course, there is a summary section to help you look at what’s important.

The end has resources as well as acronyms and definitions. This will help you figure out what all those acronyms mean that you’re forced to deal with. In this industry there are so many terms and groups of letters that twist your eyes when looking at them. Why are there so many? Because if we actually had to say everything in log form we would never get anything done. Unfortunately, by the time the letters are used to describe something over a long period of time we forget what the stand for. For example, LTE. Do you remember that LTE stands for or why it was named that? Maybe you don’t care, but it’s Long Term Evolution. Why that? Because it was supposed to last a very long time as the format continued to improve. That is, until 5G came out and now we say “5G” all the time. Unfortunately, LTE has lost I’s charm to most people. Not to me, I think that long-term evolution is such a cool idea, like something that Homo sapiens should be doing continuously. We should be evolving on a regular basis. I mean our knowledge, not like mutants or anything.

So, read this if you dare to learn more about massive MIMO!

The report is available at:

What’s in the Report?

Below is a quick overview of the Table of Contents for The Massive MIMO Report.

  • Overview
  • What is MIMO?
    • Where did MIMO come from?
    • Are there different types of MIMO?
  • What is massive MIMO?
    • Why do we need massive MIMO?
    • Will massive MIMO be needed everywhere?
    • What Parts make up Massive MIMO in the system?
    • What does the BBU need to do to support massive MIMO?
    • What does the Active Antenna System have to do?
  • What makes massive MIMO special?
  • What is beamforming?
    • First, a quick, high level, history lesson.
    • How does it work?
    • What spectrum does beamforming work in?
    • Who will use it? (Looking at the USA only)
    • Why cable companies should pay attention.
  • The network matters!What about the backhaul?
    • What about the fronthaul?
    • How will the network meet the demands of 5G?
  • What about the extensions of the macro sites?
    • Will CRAN or C-RAN be a massive MIMO system?
    • Will Small Cells have Massive MIMO
    • What about DAS systems?
  • Will Massive MIMO be in the UE device?
  • What changes will tower companies see at the site?
    • On the Tower:
    • On the ground:
  • Will Utility costs change?
  • Massive MIMO Tower Work Overview
    • What is Massive MIMO, really?
    • What about the tower work?
      • What if you swap?
      • What is it’s new?
      • Who decides what mount is safe for massive MIMO antennas?
      • What about the cables?
    • Is it bigger or smaller? Size and weight matter!
      • How Will TIA-222 Rev H affect Massive MIMO Tower Work?
        • What is TIA-222?
        • Why does Rev H matter?
        • Why now?
        • How will this affect new deployments?
        • How does this impact 5G?
        • Resources for TIA-222:
      • Tower Crew Summary:
    • What does it mean for the suppliers and GCs?
      • Who benefits?
      • Who doesn’t benefit?
    • Economies of size with Massive MIMO
      • Why does size matter?
      • We’ll look at what effects the size.
      • What about weight?
      • Is there a difference between TDD and FDD?
        • What is FDD?
        • What is TDD?
      • What about frequency?
      • How much is too much?
      • Larger antennas cost more.
      • How has this changed from the traditional models?
      • But wait, that’s not the big picture!
      • Pros and Cons:
    • Spectrum Options
      • Mobility Connections:
    • How will Carriers deploy massive MIMO?
    • New Business Models for the Carriers:
      • Internet Service Providers
      • TV and Video
      • IOT
      • Transportation
    • Should 5G be Fixed and Mobile Wireless?
      • How does this tie into massive MIMO?
      • What’s the difference?
      • Fixed Wireless Overview
      • Mobile Overview
      • Why compare fixed to mobile?
      • Fixed Pros and Cons
      • Mobile Pros and Cons
      • Who wins?
    • MIMO Report Summary:
    • More Resources:
    • Acronyms and Definitions





The report is available at:







Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

See Ya!

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