3GSM: Nortel tests HSUPA

Nortel Networks today said it has its high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA) technology up and running and has performed its first live tests of simultaneous upstream and downstream data transmissions at speeds exceeding 1 Mb/s.

HSUPA is the uplink complement of high-speed downlink packet access, a wideband CDMA technology that extends the downstream capacity of the network to a theoretical 14.4 Mb/s over a 10 MHz spectrum band. HSUPA adds similar--though not quite as high--broadband capacity to the upstream channel of a 3G network, allowing for applications that need bandwidth going both directions on the network such as voice and peer-to-peer video streaming, gaming and file transfer.

Nortel said it has performed tests using its UMTS Base Tranceiver Station loaded with its HSDPA and pre-commercial HSUPA software and an Aeroflex TM500 handset simulator to achieve uplink speeds of 1.4 Mb/s between two virtual handsets. Nortel said VoIP calls, video and large files were exchanged between the two simulated terminals at transfer speeds exceeding 1 Mb/s.

Nortel said it would be taking the technology on the road, demonstrating it next week at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. Nortel’s commercial HSUPA technology will be available at the beginning of next year.