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Massive MIMO Radio Transceiver Manufacturers Driving 5G Networks

massive mimo 5g radio transceiver telecommunication radio head

Massive MIMO radio transceivers are revolutionizing wireless communication, particularly in the deployment of 5G networks. These transceivers, offering enhanced capacity, coverage, and efficiency, are vital for modern telecommunications. This guide highlights leading manufacturers of massive MIMO radio transceivers, spearheading advancements in 5G technology and beyond.

This page covers manufacturers of Massive MIMO Transceivers or Radio Heads, used in 4G LTE and 5G NR (New Radio) systems.

What is a Massive MIMO Radio Transceiver?

As we know, a massive MIMO system consists of a large number of antennas used on the 5G NR base station side. To support this large array of antennas, multiple radio transceivers are required in a chain. Each transceiver is mapped to two antenna elements. One antenna element uses horizontal polarization, while the other uses vertical polarization.

MU-MIMO in 5G NR

Figure 1: MU-MIMO in 5G NR

There are two types: SU-MIMO and MU-MIMO, as shown in Figure 1. Typically, 16/32/64/96 antenna elements are used in such a configuration.

Massive MIMO Radio Transceiver

Figure 2: Massive MIMO Radio Transceiver

For example, Figure 2 depicts 32T32R massive MIMO. As shown, there are 32 transmit paths and 32 receive paths, served by 16 transceivers. Analog Devices has developed the AD9371, which supports two transmit paths, two receive paths, and an observation receiver. AD9528 is used as a clock generator.

As shown, the massive MIMO transceiver can be placed between the digital baseband and the antenna array, housing RF mixers.

5G Massive MIMO Transceiver Manufacturers | Massive MIMO Radio Head Manufacturers

The following table lists 5G massive MIMO Transceiver manufacturers:

Company	Part number	Description
Analog Devices Inc.	ADRV9026	• It is a wideband RF Transceiver designed for Base Station Manufacturers. • It supports TDD and FDD topologies and can be used in 3G/4G/5G applications. • It houses 4 differential transmitters and 4 differential receivers. • It can be used for RF carrier frequencies in the range from 650 MHz to 6000 MHz. • It supports maximum receiver bandwidths up to 200 MHz. • It houses 12.288 Gbps JESD204B/JESD204C digital interface.
TI	AFE76xx	• MIMO Transceiver used for LTE and 5G Radio designs. • It is a 2x2 MIMO Transceiver housing 2 transmit and 2 receive ports. • Center RF frequency of 1.84 GHz. • Integrates 4 ADCs and 4 DACs and PLL.
Nutaq		Massive MIMO Reference design (Scalable and Flexible) which uses Radio Remote Head (RRH) with either 4TRX or 8TRX • RRH-4TRX, Radio640 supports 4 TRx with a total of eight TRX per RRH • Radio640 processes 250 MHz signal with up to 1000 antennas. • RRH-8TRX (Radio Remote Head) supports 8 TRX capable, 125 MHz OTA (Over The Air) BW
RF DSP Inc.		8Tx/8Rx MIMO RF Transceiver Module • The module can be used for 5G NR Radio units. • It supports MIMO Radio Head from 4T4R to 64T64R or 128T128R for 5G macro cells. •
Anokiwave	AWMF-0108	• Ka Band Transceiver which is used to implement MIMO/Beamforming for 5G equipment. • It supports TDD, massive mimo and multi user MIMO • Supports 27.5 to 30 GHz frequency range. • Supports 4 Tx/Rx radiating antenna elements • Anokiwave offers design kit and evaluation kit for customers.
Ericsson		Massive MIMO Radio System • Supports deployment of 4G TDD and 5G technologies. • Supports 64T64R antenna system on 2300 MHz • The company offers end-to-end system modules which include MIMO radio, RAN, radio system software, mobile transport, antenna system, and so on. • Visit : Ericsson.com for more information
Nokia		AirScale Radio Access System It consists of all of the following modules or subsystems. • Nokia Airscale BS (Base Station) • Nokia Airscale Active Antennas • Cloud RAN • Airscale WiFi • Common software which supports 2G/3G/4G/5G radio access technologies • Visit : Nokia.com
Samsung Electronics		• It offers Massive MIMO Radio products viz. 32T32R (at 3.5 GHz), 64T64R (at 2.5 GHz, CBRS) • The MIMO antenna array supports multi-antenna elements (about 96) to handle multiple data streams simultaneously for beamforming. • Massive MIMO radio transceivers can transmit sharp and pinpointing beams to multi-devices simultaneously with minimal interference. • The company offers end-to-end products for 5G deployment which include baseband, radio, massive MIMO radio, access unit, virtual RAN, cloud native core, radio and service planner, etc.
Airspan		The company offers various products to be used in 5G NR systems which can be used for mmwave, sub 6 GHz, massive MIMO, and Open vRAN architecture. • Air5G OpenRANGE06: Provides 5G NR sub 6GHz outdoor access, houses Remote radio unit with massive MIMO antenna array (up to 64 x 64). • Air5G OpenRANGE28: Supports mmwave and houses radio unit and distributed unit. Radio unit supports antenna array up to 128 x 128. • Visit Airspan.com for other 5G products such as OpenRANGE DU, OpenRANGE SW, AirDensity 5G, etc.
Parallel Wireless		5G OpenRAN • The company offers OpenRAN outdoor hardware and software suite. • Visit Parallelwireless.com for more information.

Conclusion

Selecting a trusted massive MIMO radio transceiver manufacturer is key to unlocking the full potential of 5G networks. These manufacturers provide cutting-edge solutions that enhance network performance, allowing for faster speeds and greater connectivity in dense environments. Invest in reliable partners to stay ahead in the fast-evolving telecom landscape.