Nokia Siemens Networks to Demo HSPA+ Data Call with Peak Throughput of 112 Mbps

Nokia Siemens Networks is demonstrating an HSPA+ data call with a peak throughput of 112 Mbps at the Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) in Barcelona.


Using four base station radio transceivers -- or “carriers” -- simultaneously for one data connection, the call will be made, according to company officials. The demonstration is expected to combine four HSPA carriers to increase performance and peak rates.

Company officials said that by balancing data traffic between the four carriers on the downlink connection, multi-carrier technology enables better speeds, better use of base station resources, and higher spectrum efficiency.

The four-carrier technology is expected to be standardized in 3GPP Release 10. Company officials said that a base station feature that uses two carriers per data connection will be available from the company in the first half of this year.

“With the rapidly growing use of mobile broadband, subscribers are increasingly using bandwidth-intensive applications,” noted Marc Rouanne, head of network systems at Nokia (News - Alert) Siemens Networks, in a release.

He said that existing and new 3G operators can deploy multi-carrier HSPA+ technology, like “we’re demonstrating with Qualcomm (News - Alert), to deliver a superior end-user experience with significantly higher data speeds and congestion-free services.”

Nokia Siemens Networks is conducting the demonstration using its commercial Flexi Multiradio Base Station and test terminals provided by Qualcomm.

“This demonstration with Nokia Siemens (News - Alert) Networks is just one example of our co-operation to explore the viability of new concepts in networks and devices,” said Alex Katouzian, vice president of product management for CDMA Technologies at Qualcomm.

A software upgrade is required for Nokia Siemens Networks’ (News - Alert) Flexi Base Stations and radio network controller (RNC) to support four-carrier HSPA. Company officials said that an HSPA+ network can theoretically support speeds of 28 Mbps or 42 Mbps with a single 5 MHz carrier.