Beyond the Cellular Paradigm: Cell-free Architectures with Radio Stripes

Associate professor Emil Björnson explains why today's cellular networks must evolve into cell-free networks to deliver consistently high data service quality everywhere. This is called Cell-free Massive MIMO can be implemented using radio stripes.

Abstract:
The fifth generation of cellular network technology is now a reality and promises higher peak rates and better service quality than previous generations. However, these gains are not achievable everywhere. The cellular architecture is characterized by a sparse deployment of high-power access points, which are surrounded by users being at different distances. Some are close and get good service, and some are far away and get bad service. Despite all the improvements that has been made from 1G to 5G, this fundamental weakness has remained. But there is a potential solution: replacing the conventional cellular architecture with a cell-free architecture, characterized by a dense deployment of low-power access points that jointly serve the users in their vicinity. This webinar will first cover the motivation and background to cell-free networks and then give an overview of recent progress on how to practically implement such networks using Massive MIMO processing, dynamic cooperation clusters, and radio stripes.

The slides can be downloaded here: https://github.com/emilbjornson/prese...