5G: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!

Vol 62: MU-MIMO AND THE TOWER OF POWER! Chapter 4: Proving once and for all that MU-MIMO Swings both ways (FDD and TDD, that is)

09/08/2026 | 53 pages
Price: $2,150.00

SRG just completed its 62nd 5G benchmark study. For this endeavor we collaborated with Accuver Americas and Keysight Technologies to conduct our second benchmark study of FDD massive MIMO. We retested the Verizon 32T32R (Band n2) cell cluster following complete implementation of 32T32R functionality, including support for downlink and uplink Multi-user MIMO. Ericsson is the infrastructure supplier in this market.

Highlights of the Report include the following:

Our Thanks. We did this study with the support of Accuver Americas and Keysight Technologies. Accuver provided us with its XCAL-Solo and XCAL5 drive test software along with its XCAP post-processing software. We used XCAL5 and XCAL-Solo to collect the chipset diagnostic messages on all smartphones and we used XCAP for the post processing of the data and subsequent analysis. We used Umetrix Data from Keysight Technologies to generate the high bandwidth downlink and uplink UDP data transfers. Both companies have been trusted partners with us for nearly two decades. SRG is responsible for all analysis and commentary provided in this report.

The Background. In our last Signals Ahead report we provided results from testing a cluster of 32T32R radios and comparing the performance with the 4T4R radios that they replaced. Since doing that study, Verizon has fully implemented 32T32R functionality, including support for downlink and uplink Multi-user MIMO. In this report we provide updated results for how 32T32R compares with 4T4R (SU-MIMO). We also provide new results which look at the incremental impact of MU-MIMO functionality – we assume an industry first in terms of an independent study with published results. This study was solely funded by our Signals Ahead subscription model.

The Methodology. We used two Motorola razr fold 2026 smartphones. With these smartphones we were able to lock them to Band n2 5G SA to collect meaningful data in our walk tests. We used the same routes that we used in the earlier study, thus making it possible to compare results with the previous study. To test MU-MIMO, we positioned one smartphone at a stationary location and then did a walk test with a second smartphone. We tested downlink and uplink MU-MIMO in three different cells.

Updated Downlink Results. With full 32T32R functionality, we observed substantial gains in downlink performance compared with 4T4R. In the previous study, the results showed good gains, but nowhere close to what we observed in this study. The comparative results are based on geo-binned data over the same walk routes as well as relative to underlying radio conditions (e.g., SSB-SINR and RSRP).

MU-MIMO Results. Uplink MU-MIMO results were simply outstanding with close to full UE pairing even with two smartphones placed adjacent to each other. Downlink MU-MIMO results were mixed with both positive gains observed as well as instances when MU-MIMO had a negative impact on downlink performance, compared with SU-MIMO results.