Nokia Siemens Networks says that it has introduced two innovations that allow operators to deliver mobile broadband more effectively with their existing radio spectrum.
Described by the company as Energy Efficient Coverage (EEC) -- which is similar in operation to Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) in LTE networks -- the first innovation enables existing GSM spectrum to support up to double the amount of traffic. Alternatively, it can achieve the same GSM performance using less spectrum, thus freeing up more frequencies for WCDMA re-farming. In addition it can significantly improve network coverage.
The second innovation is Configurable Carrier Bandwidth for WCDMA. This allows WCDMA carrier bandwidth to be set in software configurable steps of 200 kHz from the very narrow 3.8 MHz up to 4.2 MHz, depending on an operator's spectrum. It gives operators full flexibility to allocate more GSM spectrum to WCDMA as it becomes available. The feature also allows co-location of GSM and WCDMA on the same frequency band for operators with extremely limited spectrum.
