Ericsson sets MC-HSPA speed record with prototype device

Swedish telecommunications hardware maker Ericsson on Monday announced it had set the world record for multi-carrier HSPA downlink speeds using a prototype consumer device and standard commercial network equipment. The record-setting rig achieved 168 Mbps on the downlink and 24 Mbps on the uplink.

Multi-Carrier HSPA is a technology still quite a long way from being available to consumers. It is not yet included in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specification for High Speed Packet Access, and only a select few carriers worldwide even offer support for its precursor, dual-carrier HSPA, the evolution of the wireless technology included in 3GPP release 8 (standardized in 2008.)

The basic selling point for MC-HSPA is that a wireless network can improve its spectrum efficiency through joint resource allocation and load balancing across multiple Cell_DCH carrier frequencies. Cell_DCH is a Radio Resource Control state in UMTS which routes signals between the user's equipment and the Radio Access Network. In short, each user, instead of being locked to a single carrier channel, is carried across several sub-carriers that are phase shifted.

"For many years we have focused on the evolution of HSPA and it is rewarding to see that the industry-wide support for HSPA Evolution is now stronger than ever, said Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President and Head of Product Area Radio at Ericsson. "Ericsson's Evo RAN brings EDGE, HSPA and LTE together into one strong, industry-leading offering. The potential for HSPA is even larger and 3GPP is already looking at even higher HSPA speeds."