GSM has been around from as long as the mobile phone has been in use. It
was well suited for voice only and there are still new GSM networks being put
in places where the predominant traffic is voice traffic. EDGE was introduced
as a GSM evolution to cater to data traffic. Later HSDPA and HSUPA
revolutionised the data traffic by allowing high speeds in Uplink and Downlink.
But as the need for higher data rates is increasing, LTE is providing a viable option to the operators. Even higher data rates are being researched upon in LTE Advanced.
Among all this HSPA is again being revolutionised with the HSPA+ technology in 3GPP Rel 7 and beyond.
HSPA+ has promised 4G speeds and has new features that look great to both the network operators and the UE manufacturers.
But as the need for higher data rates is increasing, LTE is providing a viable option to the operators. Even higher data rates are being researched upon in LTE Advanced.
Among all this HSPA is again being revolutionised with the HSPA+ technology in 3GPP Rel 7 and beyond.
HSPA+ has promised 4G speeds and has new features that look great to both the network operators and the UE manufacturers.
With only a few LTE
enable UEs available in selected markets, LTE has still a long way to go before
there can be widespread deployment. Therefore HSPA will be around for quite
some time and HSPA+ will match it with LTE for the data rates. This means HSPA+
and LTE will coexist for a long time until cheap LTE UEs are in the market and
network vendors have their networks ready for LTE.
HSPA+ Features
New Feature
|
Benefits
|
|
Rel 7
|
Higher Order Modulation in DL – 64 QAM
|
DL speed - 21 mbps
|
Higher Order Modulation in UL – 16 QAM
|
UL speed – 11.5 mbps
|
|
MIMO + 16 QAM
|
DL speed with 2x2 + 16 QAM - 42
|
|
CPC
|
- Huge battery saving
in CELL_DCH
- reduced call setup
time
- always ON UE
|
|
eFACH
|
HSDPA data possible in CELL_FACH
|
|
Enhanced F-DPCH
|
- DL codes saved for
signaling
- Increased cell
capacity in the cell
|
|
E-DPCCH power boosting
|
Allows network to
configure UE with parameters to boost the E-DPCCH w.r.t. DPCCH when the data
rate threshold is reached.
|
|
Rel 8
|
MIMO + 64 QAM
|
DL speed with 64 QAM – 28
|
DL Dual Cell
|
DL speed with 64 QAM – 42
|
|
eFACH
|
HSDPA + HSUPA data possible in
CELL_FACH
|
|
CSoHSPA
|
- Made possible by
enhanced F-DPCH, CPC
- CS traffic mapped to
HSDPA/HSUPA
- cell capacity
increased tremendously
- network has to
manage only HSPA traffic
|
|
Rel 9
|
DL Dual Cell + MIMO
|
DL speed with (2x2 MIMO + 64 QAM) in
each cell – 84 mbps
|
UL Dual Cell
|
Dual cell with 16 QAM – 23 mbps
|