The test was conducted at Vodafone UK’s headquarters, located in Newbury, Berkshire, in the operators testing lab.
It is the latest example of operators testing MIMO technology on their networks in an attempt to improve speeds and capacity. MIMO allows for multiple streams from a router to an end user device, optimising the signal depending on location and other factors.
Huawei claims the technology could be of benefit in densely populated urban areas, especially using 2.6GHz spectrum, which was earmarked in the UK for use on small cells.
A spokesperson for Huawei said, “We continue to test the technology, as we believe Massive MIMO could benefit many of our customers, particularly in areas where there are a large number of devices, such as city centers, train stations, business districts and stadiums.”
Numerous operators have been releasing details of demonstrations and tests with MIMO. Huawei recently saw speeds top more than 1.5Gbps on a 4G network in tests with Orange using MIMO 4x4 transmission. It has also carried out tests with Deutsche Telekom.
MIMO is expected to play a key role in the development of 5G technology, and has already been used in tests between Nokia and T-Mobile, and MegaFon.
