Qualcomm looks to next phase of 3G

Qualcomm today revealed two new technology platforms currently under development that will allow next-generation handsets to access multiple wireless radio signals simultaneously, not only further increasing data throughputs but also allowing applications to seamlessly span multiple networks.

Called Multicarrier Multilink eXtensions (MMX), the technology is designed to work with both the standards adopted by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and its CDMA equivalent 3GPP2. Qualcomm is creating two separate technology tracks, one targeted at enhanced wideband CDMA/high-speed downlink packet access (WCDMA/HSDPA) networks called HSDPA MMX, or HMMX, and one targeted at CDMA 1X EV-DO networks called DO MMX, or DMMX.

The core principle behind the technology is to allow handsets to access multiple frequency bands using different wireless transmission protocols simultaneously as well as support those transmissions over multiple antennas. For instance, a MediaFLO handset could access an OFDM signal in the 700 MHz band to received a digital TV signal while simultaneously accessing the EV-DO network over 1900 MHz to overlay interactive subscriber-specific content into the transmission (e.g., MSNBC with a stock ticker tailored to a subscriber’s own portfolio). Another example would be using an HSDPA handset to receive both an assisted GPS signal and a data feed for real-time location-based services.

“The idea of accessing a single homogeneous network has been supplanted by the notion, in a heterogeneous world, that the device will simultaneously link with multiple networks and protocols,” Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said in a statement. “In tomorrow’s markets, we will stop talking about voice and data because, by the end of this decade, we will see that voice is data and data is much more than we imagined when wireless first transitioned from circuit-switching to IP-based packet implementations.”

Qualcomm also envisions MMX to be a core technology in the next evolution of CDMA 3G technology: EV-DO Revision B. While Rev. A adds higher capacities and quality of service than EV-DO, allowing it to support VoIP, it brushes up against the capacity that can be crammed into a single 1.25 MHz radio channel. Rev. B is designed to access multiple radio channels simultaneously, spreading the data session through as much as 20 MHz or 15 channels. Such a network operating at peak performance could support a single forward link of 73.5 Mb/s. Qualcomm said the technology would give carriers the flexibility to allot single or multiple data channels to their customers at any given time depending on the bandwidth needs of individual applications and their service agreements. Qualcomm said the technology could also be applied to HSDPA, though no 3GPP standard calling for multicarrier support exists. Multiple 5 MHz UMTS channels could be aggregated to create a super HSDPA session.

Qualcomm today also announced it has real-world data rates of 3.6 Mb/s over its second-generation HSDPA chipset, the MSM6280. Tests conducted by infrastructure vendors using Qualcomm test-terminals produced peak data rates half that of the 7.2 Mb/s theoretical ceiling for this phase of the technology. HSDPA has more than a dozen installments, each designed to increase total downlink capacity over the previous installment. Qualcomm is commercially shipping its first-generation HSDPA chipset, the MSM 6275, which has a theoretical downlink capacity of 1.8 Mb/s, and it began sampling the MSM6280 7.2 Mb/s chip last month.