Qualcomm chipset could triple cellular data speeds
EV-DO Revision B will enable 3G capabilities including converging multiple consumer electronics features into a single device
Follow @infoworldNew Qualcomm chipsets could triple mobile devices' wireless bandwidth next year.
Qualcomm has said it will to introduce chipsets based on a technology called EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) Revision B, which is capable of boosting bandwidth on existing CDMA (code division multiple access) networks.
The technology will first be available to vendors of data modems late next year, the company said recently.
When it reaches other wireless devices soon after, EV-DO Revision B will enable 3G (third-generation) capabilities like converging multiple consumer electronics features into a single device. Users will then be able to watch mobile television or listen to streaming music while simultaneously making a phone call, or conduct a VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) call while browsing Web sites.
The chipsets will also be smaller and offer better battery life than current technology, said Sanjay Jha, president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies.
Wireless electronic devices on today's market use either the original EV-DO standard or W-CDMA (wideband CDMA).
Current EV-DO users include Alltel Corp., Sprint Nextel and Verizon Communications, said Avi Greengart, an industry analyst with Current Analysis. Sprint has already announced plans to migrate to EV-DO Revision A, to support its push-to-talk function.
That sounds promising for Qualcomm's new chipset, but no carrier has yet announced public support for EV-DO Revision B, raising the question of how it will be supported by hardware infrastructure, Greengart said.
Qualcomm plans to launch EV-DO Revision B as part of its DMMX (DO Multicarrier Multilink Extensions) and HMMX (HSDPA Multicarrier Multilink Extensions) platforms. Both involve the use of simultaneous, multiple, wireless transmission protocols in multiple frequency bands.
EV-DO Revision B allows data to flow over more than one channel at the same time, thus increasing peak data rates -- up to 14.7M bits per second on the downlink. And it uses existing wireless standards, protecting CDMA2000 operators' current investments in both networks and devices, according to the Qualcomm Web site.
