Ericsson has developed a unique solution that triples uplink capacity in HSPA networks. This allows operators with a large number of end users to offer high uplink data speeds.

HSPA is a key means of delivering high-speed, high-capacity mobile broadband, allowing operators to cost-effectively meet user demand for advanced internet services – anywhere, anytime. However, as the number of smartphones connected to a network increases and usage of heavy data-generating applications surges, uplink capacity is becoming more and more important. This is the next important step to meet global smartphone service demands.

On January 25, 2012, Ericsson demonstrated that over-the-air uplink throughput for simultaneously active devices in a cell was increased from around 4Mbps to more than 12Mbps.The demonstrated capacity is an unprecedented figure for a 5 MHz WCDMA carrier.

This was made possible by combining Ericsson’s commercially available receiver technology, Ericsson Interference Suppression, with 4-antenna radio base stations. There is no need to upgrade cell phones or consumer devices in order to achieve this gain.

Interference Suppression is the industry-leading base station receiver technology for WCDMA/HSPA that can vastly improve uplink speeds by increasing the network capacity. This is done by using advanced software algorithms in the base station that greatly reduce the negative effects of uplink interference that is today the bottleneck in many HSPA networks.

The gains were further enhanced by the use of base stations configured with four antennas per cell. This combination delivers a leap in end user experience and uplink capacity.

Improving uplink capacity with these technologies offers operators an elegant way to further serve a greater number of customers, who increasingly choose to upload information from mobile devices to cloud services for example sharing photo over social networks

“We have proven that Ericsson’s unique Interference Suppression is a giant leap forward and it will be the new reference for WCDMA uplink performance for years to come. This can even be further enhanced by combining it with multi-receive antenna technologies. Because these technologies work with existing devices, operators that implement them will instantly benefit from the attractive gain”, said Nils Viklund, Director WCDMA RAN at Ericsson.