MWC 2012: Nokia Siemens And Qualcomm To Demo HSPA+ Booster

Nokia Siemens Networks and Qualcomm will use next week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to demonstrate HSPA+ Multiflow, a feature they claim will offer doubled data speeds for users at the edge of mobile phone cells.

HSPA+ (high-speed packet access) Multiflow works by connecting a device close to the fringes of a mobile base station’s reach to a second base station to boost reliability and speed.

Fast and efficient

“With 100 million smart devices being added every month, we see a consequent increase in ‘smart’ applications that make use of their advanced capabilities,” said the head of Nokia Siemens’ WCDMA business line, Keith Sutton, in a statement. “Not only is network traffic rising dramatically, much of it is also unpredictable in nature, and this can impact user experience.”

Nokia Siemens claims that by allowing devices to connect to more than one base station at a time, the new technology will offer up to 50 per cent faster response times compared to existing networks, as well as greater efficiency for network resources.

HSPA+ Multiflow will be demonstrated at the MWC event using a prototype Qualcomm USB dongle and Nokia Siemens’ commercial base stations, and is expected to be standardised by the 3GPP by mid-2012.

“We are working with Nokia Siemens Networks to drive the evolution and deployment of technologies like HSPA+,” Serge Willenegger, vice president of product management at Qualcomm, said in a statement. “This demonstration confirms that HSPA+ Multiflow will enable us to further enhance the HSPA+ mobile broadband user experience, and is thus a valuable contribution toward enhancing the HSPA+ value proposition and further expanding global mobile broadband coverage.”

Nokia Siemens also announced that HSPA+ Multiflow will be available commercially from 2013, though there will be network software and consumer hardware upgrades to tackle first.