MIMO: The Future Of Wireless

Test Challenges For WiMAX, HSPA+, And LTE

This article is part of a series of quarterly guest

columns by Mark Elo, RF Marketing Director,
Keithley Instruments, Inc.

Introduction
Mobile communications, along with the underlying technology that provides voice and
data service, is evolving to provide higher data rates in the same frequency spectrum to
an ever-growing user base. New communications standards are using multiple-input
multiple-output (MIMO) techniques to maximize throughput and coverage while
preserving bandwidth.
MIMO takes spectral efficiency to a new level, but with better spectral efficiency comes
a higher level of complexity. MIMO employs more radio carriers to transmit more
information, improving spectral efficiency by transmitting all the signals on the same
channel occupying the same bandwidth.
This increased complexity poses new testing challenges for design and test engineers.

MIMO Concepts
MIMO is based on the principle of accurately modeling the transmission channel to
decompose the multiple received symbols back into single data streams. As shown in
Figure 1, for instance, an 802.11n WLAN transmitter transmits a known signal in the
form of a header. The receivers then use this to build a model of the channel, represented
by H. When the data is transmitted, the receiver divides through by the channel model
(H) to get as close to the original vectors given the transmission error represented by the
noise vector (n).

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Guest Column

Figure 1: Understanding the transmission channel

The concept of modeling the channel applies to all MIMO systems. However, the method
varies from standard to standard. For example, 802.11n WLAN transmits the header
information on both TX1 and TX2, while WiMAX 802.16e Wave 2 transmits the header
only on the first transmitter. The resolved transmission path, h11 and h22, are called the
spatial streams.

Measurement System Time Alignment

The channel distorts the signal in many ways. For example, reflections off of surrounding
objects can cause multiple instances of the signal to arrive at the transmitter at different
times. This multi-path phenomenon introduces amplitude degradation and time and phase
delays. The more channel distortion added to the signal, the more likely the receiver
algorithms can solve for the originally transmitted signals. If the transmitter or the
receiver further adds amplitude, time, and phase errors, the channel will not be accurately
modeled, and the symbols will not be effectively resolved.
There are a few key measurement parameters that help determine the quality of the signal
and signal channel in MIMO systems.
Modulation Quality Metrics: As with most traditional digital transmission systems, the
key modulation quality measurement is the actual received symbols vector (or symbol
phase and amplitude distortion) compared to what the receiver expected. The most
common measure is error vector magnitude (EVM), but other variants exist such as the
relative constellation error (RCE). For a MIMO system, overall EVM is still a good

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Guest Column
measurement, although an RMS EVM can be calculated to give an overall indication of
modulation quality across transmitters.
Constellation Diagram: This gives a pictorial representation of the quality of the received
signals. Depending on the configuration of the MIMO system, there will be multiple
constellation diagrams. A 2 x 2 system will have two constellations representing both
resolved spatial streams, h11 and h22. A 4 x 4 system would have four constellations, and
so on. As with traditional digital systems, the same qualitative measures, such as phase
error, noise, and IQ balance, can be derived from the constellation diagram.
Channel Response: This is a key indicator of spatial stream behavior, as shown in Figure
2.

Figure 2: Channel response

Using antennas or, for a more quantitative measure, a channel emulator, an accurate
model of the channel can be derived. This helps the transmitter designer understand how
robust the transmission is under varying channel conditions using the calibrated receiver
as the reference. The receiver can also be tested in the same way using different channel
models to stress the receiver. These signals can be generated by applying the appropriate
channel distortion to a standard waveform using an arbitrary waveform generator or by
using a real-time channel emulator.
The performance of a MIMO system is dependant on the behavior of the channel. So, the
transmitter and receiver must be tested using a multitude of channel models, both from
pre-defined standards and by user-defined models, to ensure the design maintains
performance across a multitude of environments.

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Matrix Condition and Singular Values: Like EVM, the matrix condition number is a good
indicator of transmitter performance. It is essentially a measure of how orthogonal
each spatial stream is. For example, a VSA (vector signal analyzer) connected to the
transmitter using cables should yield a matrix condition close to unity or 0dB. If not, then
the transmitter may be creating some inter-stream interference. This could be due to a
mathematical error in the DSP (digital signal processor), or a problem in the RF section,
as the matrix condition is the ratio of the largest singular value to the smallest. A
common measurement approach is to monitor the matrix condition number until there is
an unusually large value and then switch to monitoring the actual singular values to
understand the matrix solution.

Stream Performance
Individual transmitted stream performance can be analyzed in a number of ways. For
instance, the instantaneous value, the power or EVM of each stream, and using a time or
frequency domain display, i.e. EVM over frequency or time.
Measuring EVM, amplitude, or frequency error over a time period helps identify
problems associated with each radios behavior over time. For example, a glitch in one of
the radios transmitter FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays) may cause a periodic
error in the EVM.
With a parallel symbol transmission scheme based on orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing (OFDM), the time increments are usually referred to as the OFDM symbol
period, as each increment can contain many thousands of symbols. For example,
WiMAX can transmit between 128 to 2048 symbols per OFDM symbol period. A typical
OFDM symbol map will have a vertical axis labeled subchannel logical number. The
subchannels are not actually physical channels, but groupings of parallel symbols that are
transmitted every OFDM symbol period. How the WiMAX signal is constructed and
behaves over time is defined in the symbol map. The symbol map is essentially a 2 x 2
matrix of symbols, the vertical being the parallel symbols, and the horizontal representing
symbol behavior over time.
Measuring EVM, or amplitude over frequency, will help identify in-band problems such
as low-level spurious interference that may be generated by a clock within the radio.

Beam Forming
One of the key benefits, and in fact one of the original uses of MIMO, is the ability to
align RF energy to specific users through the process known as beam forming. Many of
the standards for commercial systems have provisions for MIMO beam forming, also
known as closed-loop MIMO. Beam forming has the benefit of delivering more capacity
to users. However, it does increase the complexity of the device, as an array of
transmitters, receivers, and antennas are required to control the direction and shape of the

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Guest Column
radiated signal. The direction and shape are a function on the channel environment.
Techniques such as channel sounding are used to model the channel and to establish the
correct phase and amplitude of the beam.
Beam forming research today is based upon developing higher configurations of radios
within devices to truly maximize the amount of services that can be delivered to a
customer. 8 x 8 and even 16 x 16 radio configurations are leading the way in commercial
broadband radio research.
Test equipment needs to have the ability to control the phase and amplitude of each
source to be able to build the required RF radiated patterns based on the calculated
knowledge of the channel.
For effective, accurate MIMO measurements, test equipment, such as signal sources and
analyzers, need to phase align their local oscillators and time align frequency references,
and D/A (digital-to-analog) and A/D (analog-to-digital) sample rates in order minimize
their contribution to the channel. Ideally, phase errors of less than a degree and a
nanosecond of timing alignment will yield an accurate result.

Conclusion
MIMO is one of the most important shifts in commercial radio technology since the move
from analog to digital transmission techniques. Next-generation standards such as
WiMAX, HSPA+ (Evolved HSPA), and LTE (Long Term Evolution) are all MIMObased systems, presenting many new challenges for commercial communication
equipment designers. As users demand more and more services and more reliable
connections, MIMO systems will evolve to encompass techniques such as beam forming,
increasing the amount of transmitters, receivers, and antennas in a device.

About The Author

Mark Elo (melo@keithley.com) is RF marketing director for Keithley Instruments. He
joined the company in 2006 after working for Agilent Technologies in marketing and
R&D management positions. Elo holds a bachelor's degree in engineering with honors
from the University of Salford, Lancashire, England, and an MBA from Heriot Watt
University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

As seen in the July 1, 2008 edition of the RF Globalnet (www.rfglobalnet.com) newsletter.