Macro Cell developments that support LTE evolution and 5G deployments

Over the recent past our industry has focussed on developing the standards and communication technology necessary to deliver the IMT 2020 vision and in particular 5G targets on eMBB, URLLC and mMTC. More recently as we move towards initial commercial deployment of 5G in 2019 and beyond, consideration has focused more on the practical issues related to deploying new technology on existing sites and the costs and tasks involved in delivering enhanced LTE and 5G services quickly and efficiently. This talk will consider what approaches can be taken to upgrade macro cell sites to support massive MIMO and where and when its use is appropriate, what RAN architecture might be appropriate and how that might impact the physical implementation of cell sites and finally what other initiatives such as open RAN could impact future developments.