17 February 2008

Nortel Evolved EDGE Technology Delivers
Mobile Broadband, Builds Bridge to 4G!

I've just found some good news for those that are not lucky enough to live in the 3G area and can’t enjoy in all benefits that comes with mobile broadband and faster data transfer.

Nortel, and partner Prisma Engineering have developed technology that could help you if you are "living on the EDGE" and you can’t catch the 3G signal or your networks have no plans to invest into 3G.

Nortel claims that Evolved EDGE can deliver mobile broadband, breathe new life into GSM investments and build the bridge to 4G!!

Even better, it should be easy to implement and upgrade existing EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) environment as this is just simple software upgrade that can more than double the spectral efficiency.

Evolved EDGE enables operators to extend the life and broaden the capabilities of GSM, further enhancing the revenue-generating capabilities of existing assets. Evolved EDGE delivers the speed and performance required to offer enhanced services at a fraction of the cost of deploying 3G systems.

The quality of the end-user experience is key to the acceptance of new technologies. Nortel will demonstrate dual-carrier Evolved EDGE technology that can achieve double the throughput compared to existing EDGE solutions. The demonstration at Mobile World Congress will take place in the Hyperconnected Home area of the Nortel booth and will include live video streaming over Evolved EDGE and LTE - which demonstrates the coupling of these technologies to deliver network-wide service continuity. This solution uses Nortel BSS commercial equipment and the Prisma dual-carrier mobile simulator.

"Today, network-wide data services are delivered by EDGE," said Graham Richardson, general manager GSM, Nortel. "Tomorrow, broadband data services will be delivered by Evolved EDGE which will bring two to four times the speed of EDGE. This evolution of GSM technology provides a cost-effective bridge to LTE and full service continuity between GSM and LTE. For operators, Nortel's Evolved EDGE solution supports mobile broadband in a cost-effective manner."

A simple software upgrade for an existing EDGE network enables Evolved EDGE and can more than double the spectral efficiency. The upgrade increases data performance rate with a downlink throughput of up to 1.2 Mbps with reduced latency. In practise these enhancements deliver an improved end-user experience and access a full range of mobile applications including VoIP, gaming, Web browsing, e-mail and video streaming.

Evolved EDGE uses the same spectrum as GSM and EDGE and allows broadband speeds to be supported across the existing network. Evolved EDGE standardization is under finalization in 3GPP Rel-7 and will be introduced to commercial networks in 2009.