Massive-Element Antenna for Small Cell Solutions in 5

Executive Summary Various innovations are expected to drive the evolution of cellular systems towards the 5th generation (5G). In this paper, we propose a new concept, virtualization of cells. This concept is based on Centralized/ Cloud-Radio Access Network (C-RAN) and advanced techniques in spatial domain. The proposed architecture helps to fully exploit the radio resources and efficiently utilize network processing resources. We discuss the benefits of a massiveelement antenna implementation to virtualized small cells. The experimental results from a proof of concept (PoC) demonstrated that our enhanced beamforming achieved high system throughput. NEC will continue to address the challenges of 5G cellular networks leveraging the proposed architecture.