Metrology for 5G Communications (MET5G)

Recent Progress

13th September 2016

Dr Tian Hong Loh

Project Coordinator

Welcome to the National Physical Laboratory

Overview

NPL In Brief

Introduction

MET5G

Recent Progress

Project Website

Overview

NPL In Brief

Introduction

MET5G

Recent Progress

Project Website

NPL In brief …

The UK’s national standards laboratory

Founded in 1900; world-leading National

Measurement Institute

Mission: To provide the measurement

capability that underpins the UK’s prosperity

and quality of life

~750 staff; 550+ specialists in Measurement

Science; 200 visiting researchers

State-of-the-art laboratory facilities

Revenue: 60% BIS/NMS; 40% Other [OGD,

Grant, Industry])

Interactions with 75 universities and 2,500

companies

Excellent international collaboration

35 746 m2

388 Laboratories

purpose built

Overview

NPL In Brief

Introduction

MET5G

Recent Progress

Project Website

Introduction – 5G Communications

1G

(1980)

2G

(1990)

3G

(2000)

4G

(2010)

5G

(2020?)

Mobile

Generatio

n

Year TechnologyChannel

BandwidthData Rate Latency Key features

1 G1980 –

1990

Analog FDMA

NMT, AMPS30KHz 1.9kbps - Voice

2 G 1990 - 2000TDMA, FDMA

GSM/EDGE200KHz

9.6 – 14.4

Kbps≥ 300ms

Digital Voice, SMS, GPRS,

MMS,

3 G 2000- 2010CDMA

UMTS/HSPA20MHz 2Mbps ≥ 100ms

Data service, enhanced

multimedia streaming

4 G2011-

present

OFDM

LTE –A, WiMax

2.0

(ITU-R IMT 2012)

100MHz

100Mbps

–

1Gbps

≥ 10ms

IP based structure, high

throughput data service,

dedicated applications

5 G2020 -

futureEmerging Emerging

expected

1 – 10Gbps

expected

≤ 1mS

Seamless heterogeneity,

agnostic access, advanced

services and applications e-

health, M2M

Digital Economy

Communication

Introduction - Global

5G Activities

EU: METIS and 5G-PPP

China: IMT-2020

Korea: 5G Forum

Japan: 5GMF

USA: 5G Americas

Standardization:

• ITU-R

• 3GPP

• ETSI

• IEEE

1-10Gbps connections to end points in the field (i.e. not theoretical maximum)

1 millisecond end-to-end round trip delay (latency)

1000x bandwidth per unit area

10-100x number of connected devices

(Perception of) 99.999% availability

(Perception of) 100% coverage

90% reduction in network energy usage

Up to ten year battery life for low-power, machine-type devices

Introduction – 5G Core Requirements

5G innovation opportunities – A discussion paper

Introduction – 5G Key Technology Trends and Challenges

Key Technology Trends:

Operating over wider

range of frequencies:

‘<6GHz’ and/or ‘>6GHz’

(e.g. mmWaves)

New waveforms

Massive MIMO

Beamforming

Highly flexible

architecture

Challenges:

Hardware limitation

Interoperability issues

Large-scale antenna array

Extreme node densities (with many simultaneous connections)

Higher power and spectrum efficiency

Atmosphere and rain in mm-wave bands

Overview

NPL In Brief

Introduction

MET5G

Recent Progress

Project Website

MET5G – Metrology for 5G Communications

MET5G – Project Partners, Collaborators and Stakeholders

• Funded by:

• EURAMET EMPIR programme

• Participating States

• EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme

MET5G – Background, Drives and Objectives 3G and 4G lacked EU wide measurement infrastructure pre-product launch –

metrology work required to address standards issues is still in development

5G focussing on the user experience, it will use cutting-edge technologies and

need new supporting metrology to support its development

5G technological challenges to address:

- Operating over wider range of frequencies with massive bandwidth

- High spectrum and power efficiency

- Interoperability and extreme node densities with many simultaneous connections

- Large-scale antenna array hardware limitation issues

MET5G – Three key measurement issues required for 5G implementation

(identified in consultation with industry):

- Signal/interference (caused by many simultaneous users);

- Massive MIMO (how to address many users at the same time);

- Nonlinearity (sets a limit on the system)

Key objectives:

- Give EU 5G communication industry the competitive edge

- Develop 5G test bed and measurement tools

- Minimise test and measurement in cost and time

- Reduce time to market for 5G products & services

Website: http://www.met5g.eu/

MET5G – Project Overview

Overview

NPL In Brief

Introduction

MET5G

Recent Progress

Project Website

MET5G WP1 Definition and traceability of SINR (NPL) Background and Drives:

The high density of users will mean that a critical parameter will be interference from nearby

users rather than noise. Hence accurate SINR estimation provide an essential figure of merit

which industry can use to assess the QoS performance of their systems at prototype stage.

In today’s 4G LTE networks, SINR is not defined by 3GPP but is currently been defined as a

“Channel Quality Indicator” (CQI), which reports to the network.

Lack of common definition: SINR is defined using different algorithms and evaluated by

different manufacturers.

A unified definition and traceable measurement approach of SINR that can include directional

and MIMO antenna systems for 5G communication systems is needed.

Our mission: Work with industry standards bodies to define and develop

traceable SINR measurement applicable to specified 5G scenarios.

Deliverable: Using software simulation

and experimental results to validate

SINR definitions and traceability suitable

for 5G communications.

Team member:NPL, CMI, Surrey, Keysight

Key collaborators:ETSI, 3GPP, 5G-PPP, CTIA

Stakeholders: Bluetest, Bluwireless AB, Ericsson, Huawei

Source Source Encoder Channel Encoder Modulator

DemodulatorChannel DecoderSource DecoderSink

Channel

Transmitter

Receiver

SINR estimation done at this point

Received signal Channel Estimator Useful Signal

Signal Regeneration Estimator

Interference and Noise Level

SINR

Instantaneous SINR per resource element

Compression function

Effective SINR per resource block

CQI

Challenges:

5G systems will utilise massive MIMO, mm-wave frequencies and new signalling methods

bringing challenges in reliably evaluating SINR.

MIMO systems are subject to various sources of interference including interference between

the simultaneous modes of transmission by MIMO antennas (or sub channels as they are

known) and cross-talk between different radios at the same frequency or adjacent frequency.

The presence of mutual coupling between antennas can also have some effect, and there is a

significant challenge associated with achieving adequate isolation between wideband MIMO

antennas housed within a small handset.

It is likely that 5G communication systems will employ multiband MIMO on both transmit and

receive, supporting at least 3 operating frequency bands simultaneously requiring tuneable or

switched filtering, which is vulnerable to causing adjacent channel interference.

Current progress:

A survey has been carried out on definitions of SINR for potential 5G modulation and coding

schemes using published literature and through direct engagement and consultation with

industry and standards bodies. The SINR definitions are categorised based their application,

modelling method and dependencies.

The consortium are currently designing and prototyping different MIMO antennas. These are

being developed to allow experimental evaluation of SINR definitions using channel sounder

that operating at the license-free band at 2.4 GHz.

SINR test facilities:

Two SINR test facilities will be employed – one for ‘below 6GHz’ and one for ‘mm-Wave at

30GHz’.

MET5G WP1 Definition and traceability of SINR (NPL) (Cont.)

MET5G WP2 mm-Wave Massive MIMO test bed (Chalmers) Background and Challenges:

In 5G wireless system, MIMO multiple-antenna communications will have a significant role,

both for an increased system spectral efficiency and for energy efficiency. Also, it is envisaged

that base stations with hundreds of antennas, Large-scale MIMO, will be utilised.

In a MIMO base station, spatial diversity re-uses the same time-frequency resource to

communicate with MU-MIMO. The system will require accurate CSI to enable the spatial

diversity. However, imperfect CSI and hardware imperfections will inevitably lead to inter-user

interference, which will limit the system performance.

The interference is a much more dominant factor in MU-MIMO systems than in SISO, due to

the simultaneous use of the same time-frequency resource for users also within the same base

station, and CSI quality and interference control will be critical factors to keep track of.

Furthermore, self-interference due to mutual coupling between antennas or other parts of the

analogue frontends will have a detrimental effect.

Our mission & Deliverable: Build mm-Wave massive MIMO testbed,

evaluate on SINR for interferences originating within & external to the

testbed, validate SINR definition and develop traceable MIMO metrology.

Team member:Chalmers, NPL, SURREY, Keysight DK

Key Collaborator:Bristol University

Stakeholders: Ericsson, Huawei, R&S, Smart Antenna Technologies

Some deliverables:

Investigate techniques and architectures for building a massive set of RF transmitters and

receivers integrated with an array of antennas.

Study pros and cons with different interfaces between digital and analog parts (I/Q, IF etc.).

Study and develop synchronization techniques for massive MIMO transmission.

Study hardware bottlenecks and developing DSP techniques to overcome them.

Demonstrate massive MIMO transmission for wireless communication and radar.

mm-Wave MIMO testbed facilities:

Two complementary mm-Wave MIMO metrology testbeds will be developed – one 2 x 2 and

another one 16 x 4.

System specifications:

28-30 GHz

8-16 RF channels 1 GHz analog bandwidth

8 RF transmit channels now available, up to 16 channels expected

Single receiver now. More receivers coming

Current progress:

The system design phrase has been completed for both transmitter and receiver stations.

Parts of the testbed have already been built.

The evaluation of SINR performance will start once the testbed is ready.

MET5G WP2 mm-Wave Massive MIMO test bed (Chalmers) (Cont.)

Some Highlights:

MET5G WP2 mm-Wave Massive MIMO test bed (Chalmers) (Cont.)

Synchronized baseband hardware

Remote access with access control

MET5G WP3 Component Level / Energy efficiency (SP) Background and Challenges:

Demands for dramatic efficiency and bandwidth increases creates difficult measurement

problems as we must accurately measure and understand the nonlinear operation of wireless

transmitters and transceivers.

A variety of strategies will be required to achieve the high levels of efficiency and areal

information density that will be required for future 5G systems.

These will include power-efficient amplifiers and signal coding and processing for MIMO but

ultimately, the linearity and the efficiency of the RF system will define the practical limits beyond

which the baseband processing will be ineffective.

It is normal practice to compensate for low levels of nonlinearity by using pre-distortion,

requiring additional baseband processing of the modulated waveform.

As the bandwidth and number of concurrent signals increases, this solution will attract

increased operational expenditure for the baseband processing.

The design of high-efficiency large signal amplifiers will require supporting large signal models

and design tools and these must be supported by traceable and robust large-signal device

measurement.

Our mission: We shall develop nonlinear metrology methods and establish

uncertainties in these areas.

Team member:SP, CMI, NPL, Surrey, Chalmers, Anritsu, Keysight

Stakeholders: QAMCOM, RUAG, Sivers, Thales

MET5G WP3 Component Level / Energy efficiency (SP) (Cont.)

Some deliverables:

Place nonlinear measurement using X-parameters and S-functions onto a sound footing.

Supporting uncertainty relationships and model extraction parameters.

Proven by inter-comparison with other users worldwide.

Current Progress:

Some key simulation models have been implemented.

To complement the modelling and simulation results, some parts (e.g. power meter, amplifiers)

have been provided to contribute to the model.

The modelling and resulting simulations leads to a validated measurement tool kit with

uncertainty analysis where traceable metrology for non-linear measurements for 5G

communications can be provided to end users.

The basic approaches to evaluate uncertainties have been investigated.

Inter-comparison activities between consortium members and collaborators has being

discussed and planned.

Repeatability measurements of the NVNA system have also being carried out.

Overview

NPL In Brief

Introduction

MET5G

Recent Progress

Project Website

WP4 Impact to industry end users (Surrey) Website: http://www.met5g.eu/

Thank you.

Question?