A MmWave communication testbed based on IEEE 802.11ad with scalable PtMP configuration

The sub-6G band is too crowded to accommodate higher data rate, while the millimeter wave (mmWave) bands have abundant spectrum resources and massive MIMO can provide high spectral and energy efficiency. Therefore, the combination of the two, namely mmWave-MIMO system, has attracted intensive research interests. In this paper, we develop a high-speed mmWave-MIMO communication system and conduct exhaustive field tests. The detail of the system design is provided and the key modules of the testbed are analyzed. The testbed exploits high gain of mmWave RF and flexible configuration of embedded system. The validation and field tests show that the developed testbed can provide up to 2.3 Gbps network layer data rate in single channel with low latency and support point-to-multi-point (PtMP) transmission aided by relay. The testbed can be used in future B5G and 6G systems to provide high reliability and low latency wireless coverage.