Key Features and Benefits
MIMO is a key technology to utilize spectrum efficiency for achieving high throughput, wide-coverage, as well as improving user experiences. The MIMO system equips much more RF chains and multiple antenna arrays to increase network capacity for large-scale deployment and serve multi-users with beamforming technology. Thanks to TMYTEK's mmWave MIMO solution, developers can quickly transform theories into prototypes. With the flexibility to re-architect the beamformer testbed, the solution seamlessly scales up to an advanced 4×4 MIMO architecture (such as our 28 GHz FR2 testbed), providing an algorithm development platform for beamforming management.
Extendable MIMO beamforming frontend system
Modular design that effortlessly scales from basic SISO setups to complex n x n massive MIMO arrays, adapting to your evolving research requirements.
Quick MIMO prototyping from theory
Accelerate your development cycle with an API-accessible, 3GPP-compliant beam management platform tailored for advanced wireless communication testing.
Flexible multi-channel control and ultra-low-latency beam switching
Achieve sub-microsecond (sub-µs) beam steering via GPIO interfaces or enjoy convenient laboratory management through standard LAN connections using a PC or laptop.
MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) maximizes spectral efficiency by deploying multiple antennas at both transmitter and receiver ends. It leverages multiplex scattering to reduce signal fading and boost SNR, ensuring highly reliable mmWave communication.
• SU-MIMO & MU-MIMO: Delivers multiple data streams to a single device (SU-MIMO) for maximum throughput, or to multiple devices simultaneously (MU-MIMO) for reliable, low-latency connectivity.
• TMYTEK Polarization Diversity: Supports advanced multi-user scenarios with dual cross-polarization, empowering accurate testing in multipath-rich or polarization-selective environments for real-world relevance.
• Massive MIMO: Aggregates RF chains and antenna arrays to maximize spatial diversity and multiplexing, dramatically increasing overall network capacity and coverage.
• Advanced Beamforming: Focuses signals directionally by precise phase and gain tuning. This extends range, minimizes interference, and serves as the crucial foundation for MU-MIMO and Massive MIMO.
The mmWave Communication System Architecture
TMYTEK MIMO solution features a flexible design to adapt to different beamforming architectures and provides a development platform for 5G mmWave communication system designers. It fulfills various applications, from small-scale to large complex frontend systems. Adopt multiple beamformer systems could easily build up the MIMO development platform, and the air interface is controllable to radiate the designed beam patterns. The baseband developers can benefit from this MIMO solution as it allows experimenting with advanced beam management algorithms for 5G NR mmWave systems, such as beam steering and beam tracking. In this mmWave communication system, it simply demonstrates the beamforming architecture and MIMO system with different components: TMYTEK MIMO solution plays significant roles as critical components such as the frequency up/down converter - UDBox, Beamformer front end - BBox and array antenna - AAkit.
| MIMO and Beamforming | Data Stream | Digital Processor |  RF Chain |  Splitter Combiner |  PLO+Mixer |  Phase Shifter |  PA / LNA |  Antenna |  Beam |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Analog | 1 SISO | 1 | 1T1R | 1 | 1 | Multiple | Multiple | Sub-array | One Beam at a time |
| Fully Digital | Multiple | 1 | Multiple | x | Multiple | x | Multiple | Multiple / Sub-array | Multiple Beam simultaneously |
| Hybrid | Multiple | 1 | Multiple | Multiple | Multiple | x | Multiple | Multiple / Sub-array | Multiple Beam simultaneously |
Analog Beamforming uses the phase-shifter with different antennas to form the antenna array to be able to steer the beam
in different directions with the same signal source.
The advantage of this analog front end is to improve the coverage with multiple relatively low-cost antenna elements but
only adopt a single RF chain. This is normally applied to mmWave small cell deployments in dense areas to cover dead
zones.
Learn more about Products: UDBox & BBox One 5G of 16 antenna elements & BBox Lite 5G of 4 antenna elements
Advanced SPI fast control feature: 3GPP Compliant Beam Switching: Based on SPI Control of BBox
For example: SISO system with 1x4 array antenna
Digital Beamforming is applying the beamforming algorithm in the baseband for digital phase-shifter control, for each individual RF chain, sourced from different signals.
The advantage of the baseband process is that it can enable flexible digital beamforming and benefit MIMO’s usage of spatial multiplexing by multiple RF-Antenna paths. This approach is normally used for indoor RF1 systems with less antennas, due to the cost of much more RF chains.
For example: MIMO system with 4 individual and simultaneously radiation, when the beamforming algorithm applied in baseband, there will form a digital 1x4 array antenna beamforming
Hybrid Beamforming combines the digital and analog beamforming that precodes the multi-stream transmission in the
baseband and forms the radiation pattern transmitted by the antenna array.
This advanced architecture can benefit the cost and energy. It minimizes the RF chain, lowers the total power
consumption and design complexity. It can also be applied to massive MIMO and MU-MIMO that transmit different data
streams and direct the beams to different users, at the same time. The solution is required by FR2 mmWave band
applications.
For example, a 2x2 MIMO hybrid beamforming: 2 UDBox each connected with BBox of 16/4 antenna elements for 4x4:3D/1x4:2D
beamforming.
Learn more：mmWave Beamforming and Massive MIMO
For example: 2x2 MIMO system with two 1x4 subarray antenna
Advanced Solution: 4×4 MIMO Testbed With Multiple 28 GHz Beamformers
While a 2x2 setup serves as an excellent foundation, TMYTEK’s ecosystem easily scales up to a powerful 4×4 MIMO testbed. This configuration integrates four BBox™ 8×8 Duo units and two NI Ettus USRP X410 devices, delivering a high-performance platform for advanced wireless communication testing.
System Implementation:
① Synchronization: Multiple BBox™ 8×8 Duo units are synchronized via the 10 MHz reference clock of the NI Ettus USRP X410, ensuring precise timing and coordination.
② Data Streams: The NI Ettus USRP X410 offers 4 full-duplex channels @ 400 MHz BW. The BBox™ 8×8 Duo fully supports 2-polarization and 2-beam capabilities.
③ Controls: BBox™ 8×8 Duo supports LAN/SPI control, while the NI Ettus USRP X410 GPIO realizes SPI control for sub-microsecond beam switching.
Related Products
BBox One 5G
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