Mobile Phone Technology

Most mobile cell towers, in busy areas, are arranged to receive and send data within a 120 degree sector. These cell towers will have 3 aerials mounted equally around the cell tower. This created the hexagonal cell structure pictured in articles. This is great when the demand for the services is equally space throughout the area. Having all cells hexagonal makes for simplified cell management.

But there are a number of areas where spreading the signal equally over the sector makes little sense and the signal needs to be targeted. For example if the signal is designed to be send up and down a railway track then a signal, tuned to this direction only ,makes sense. Equally if in a FWA scenario, the 'target' is a small hamlet then it is a waste putting signal over some fields. So it is possible to target the presumed demand for the service from a particular cell tower, where there is an assumed need. This is a static solution to the issue of unequal demand over an area.

Beamforming within 5G is a more dynamic feature that works with MIMO. The direction of the beam can change (or formed) to target higher areas of demand and dynamsically react in real-time to this demand. Within beamforming it is also possible to follow a user with a high data demand.