Arguments of Innovative Antenna Design and Centralized Macro Sites for 5G

Abstract

The evolution of mobile networks has been extremely fast during the last decade. However, the advancements in the technological ways of improving the system capacity are not enough for the data revolution we have witnessed in the last couple of years, and for the data traffic forecast made by the professionals for the next decade. Several recent technological enhancements may double the network capacity, or may even increase the system capacity 5–10 times, but still it is far away from the expected “need for a thousandfold more capacity”. The fifth Generation (5G) of mobile networks with a slogan of thousandfold more capacity has compelled the research community to think in an “Innovative Way” and to think “Outside the box”. The aim of this article is first to show the limitations of recent technology solutions for the future demands, and thus to highlight the need for more innovative breakthrough solutions. The excellence of centralized macro sites is argued as a principal capacity layer instead of micro cells, small cells, or femto cells. Moreover, it is also argued that an ultimate need for innovative antenna solutions for macro sites is required instead of traditional antenna array technologies.