In order to reduce the processing complexity, energy consumption, and spectrum efficiency of next-generation cellular systems, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems with a large number of base station antennas—also referred to as massive MIMO—have drawn a lot of attention from both academia and industry. With the need for future wireless systems growing, the mobile communication industry has started a feasibility study of huge MIMO systems. In the third generation partnership project (3GPP), the Full-Dimension MIMO (FD-MIMO), an official name for the MIMO improvement, has shown potential benefits in field trials of proof-of-concept systems. To ensure this technology's smooth integration into the current 4G LTE systems, 3GPP started standardisation efforts. We present a summary of the FD-MIMO technology in this post, focusing on the conversation and controversy surrounding Release 13's standardisation process. We provide performance evaluations for common FD-MIMO scenarios, an overview of the main concerns for standardisation and feasible system design, and important features for FD-MIMO systems.

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