NSN Test Doubles Voice Capacity, Increases Battery Life

Finnish operator Elisa has teamed with Nokia Siemens Networks on new technology that potentially could double voice capacity on 3G networks and increase handset battery power by 50 percent.

A trial call was conducted on Elisa’s live 3G network using R&D prototype devices supplied by Nokia. In technical terms, the demonstration was of the world’s first circuit switched call over a high speed packet access network (CSoHSPA).

While mobile users would see no difference in their voice service, the CSoHSPA technique, when supported by the continuous packet connectivity (CPC) features of 3GPP Release 7, requires far less handset battery power, providing up to a 50 percent increase in talk time. The efficiency of the technique also means call setup times can be cut in half and operators benefit from much higher voice capacity per carrier, making it feasible for both consumers and operators to use 3G as the preferred network for making voice calls. To enable the technique in existing 3G networks, no changes are necessary to the core network and only a simple software upgrade required in the radio access network.

The CSoHSPA feature, standardized on top of 3GPP Release 7, is part of HSPA evolution, or HSPA+. In addition to this milestone, Nokia Siemens Networks has demonstrated HSPA+ peak rates of 21Mbps, and pioneered network simplification with the flat architecture of I-HSPA (Internet HSPA), to improve overall network efficiency to meet the needs of booming data traffic.