LTE is really starting to stretch its legs as the high-speed mobile broadband standard that we knew it could always be. NTT DoCoMo reportedly just achieved “a downlink transmission rate of 250Mbps over a high-speed wireless network in an outdoor test of an experimental Super 3G system.” Super 3G, also known as LTE (Long Term Evolution), an evolution from current HSDPA/HSUPA/HSPA standards based on WCDMA technology, is the next-generation of GSM-based mobile broadband solution. And, with NTT DoCoMo’s new breakthrough, the road to LTE is looking mighty good.
NTT DoCoMo hit that 250Mbps downlink speed by using a MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) setup with a four antenna setup allowing for increased bandwidth. The technical bits are on the dry side, so we won’t go into the details here. Just rest assured that the 250Mbps Super 3G LTE breakthrough is likely a milestone on the way towards 300Mbps LTE networks.
The carrier hopes to have completed development of the Super 3G LTE technologies by 2009, in preparation for an eventual network launch.
LTE is on the way, folks. Probably not anytime soon in the US, but Europeans will likely be rocking the high-speed tech in a couple years’ time.