Massive MIMO and mmWave for 5G Wireless HetNet: Potential Benefits and Challenges

There has been active research worldwide to develop the next-generation, i.e., fifth-generation (5G), wireless network. The 5G network is expected to support a significantly large amount of mobile data traffic and a huge number of wireless connections and achieve better costand energy-efficiency as well as quality of service (QoS) in terms of communication delay, reliability, and security. To this end, the 5G wireless network should exploit the potential of new developments, including superdense and heterogeneous deployment of cells and massive antenna arrays [i.e., massive multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technologies] and utilization of higher frequencies, particularly millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies. This article discusses the potential benefits and challenges of the 5G wireless heterogeneous network (HetNet) that incorporates massive MIMO and mmWave technologies.