SoftBank, Ericsson use AI to tune Massive MIMO in real time

SoftBank Corp and Ericsson’s Japan unit are rolling out an AI-based system to automatically adjust Massive MIMO antenna coverage as mobile traffic shifts. Tested on outdoor base stations at Expo 2025 in Osaka, the software-controlled setup improved downlink speeds by 24 per cent during sharp demand swings, raising average throughput from 76.9Mb/s to 95.5Mb/s.

The system tweaks both horizontal and vertical coverage patterns without manual intervention, aiming to match capacity to where users actually are at any given time. SoftBank and Ericsson have since deployed the technology at large event venues, where crowd density changes by the hour, and ran trials using AI-driven external base station control. The work builds on SoftBank’s move in August to name Ericsson as one of its 4G and 5G RAN upgrade suppliers in Japan.