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Aug. 2, 2008

Yesterday, Qualcomm has announced it has made the world’s first wireless data test using new technology in the W-CDMA 3G group of specifications, HSPA+ (high-speed packet access plus).

Qualcomm said that its testing registered at no less than 20 Mbps for downlink data rates in a 5 MHz channel.

This essentially doubles the data rate for HSPA while also providing a 300 percent increase for voice capacity using VoIP or VPN solutions.

Overall, Qualcomm’s new technology is designed for IMDs (Internet Mobile Devices) like data cards but may eventually find its way into handsets or laptop modules as well, the company said.

"Qualcomm is already shipping the HSPA+ chipset, the Qualcomm MDM-8200 and we expect it to be available commercially in data cards by the end of 2008. We've also already announced that wireless carriers like Hutchison 3G, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Telstra are going to trial the technology as well," said Steve Mollenkopf, executive v.p. of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies.

The MDM-8200 uses Release 7 of the 3-GPP specifications, which is designed to provide downlink rates up to 28 Mbps and uplink rates of up to 11 Mbps.

Future iterations of the technology promise downlink speeds of up to 84 Mbps and uplink rates of up to 23 Mbps using MIMO.

As important as the higher data rates may be, Mollenkopf said the MDM-8200 chip also provides very low latency rates so users will be able to get fast access to the Internet and get the content they want.

Qualcomm's new chipset also has the processing power to support data-intensive applications, he said. Mollenkopf added that HSPA+ will also allow operators to continue to use their legacy equipment while providing higher data rates, and also will allow them to decide when and where to deploy a 4G technology like LTE (long term evolution).

LTE requires new infrastructure but promises data rates up to 277 Mbps down and 75 Mbps up. LTE isn’t expected to be commercial until at least two years or more from now, although some vendors are predicting their equipment will be ready as early as next year. Qualcomm also supports LTE.

Globally, and to this day, more than 20 wireless carriers already are using HSPA in their networks.

Qualcomm isn’t alone in working in the HSPA+ and LTE standards, something most vendors have bet on. Ericsson has also demonstrated LTE on some of its base stations for both paired and unpaired spectrum, reporting data rates of up to 160 Mbps downlink in FDD (frequency division duplex) mode.

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Source: Qualcomm.