NSN and Sprint hit 2.6 Gbps TD-LTE throughput, beating previous record by 63 percent

Nokia Solutions and Networks has linked up with the US operator Sprint to accomplish a huge leap in TD-LTE network speeds by demonstrating 2.6 gigabits per second (Gbps) throughput over a single sector. Using its commercially available Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station, NSN's Mountain View facility in California beat the previous 1.6 Gbps record and will be demonstrating the achievement at Mobile World Congress 2014. NSN is also launching a high-capacity Flexi Multiradio System Module for TD-LTE that can deliver up to 5 Gbps of peak throughput from a single site.

Continuing its streak of TD-LTE speed records, NSN has aggregated 120 MHz of Sprint's TDD spectrum to achieve an unprecedented speed of 2.6 Gbps using its innovative Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station, which is currently used in commercial radio networks around the world.

"Sprint is excited to partner with NSN to enable Sprint Spark and lead the way globally in enabling future mobile broadband innovation," said Stephen Bye, chief technology officer at Sprint. "Combining our unique spectrum assets with TD-LTE-Advanced features and NSN's next generation TD-LTE base station has allowed us to achieve the world's first 2.6 Gbps throughput over TD-LTE."

"With demand for high-speed mobile broadband services growing rapidly around the world, NSN and Sprint are showing how operators can unlock the highest capacity from their TDD spectrum," said Zhang Qi, vice president for TD-LTE at NSN. "At Mobile World Congress, we will demonstrate how the record speed was achieved, proving that TD-LTE technology and the ecosystem are ready for global roll out by any operator with TDD spectrum. With our help, the operators can meet and exceed the expectations of mobile broadband customers."

In a further development, NSN is launching a high-capacity TD-LTE baseband system module for its Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station product family that can deliver up to 5 Gbps of peak throughput from a single site. The enhanced Flexi Multiradio System Module is the industry's highest capacity TD-LTE baseband. This means that operators can roll out TD-LTE networks with fewer base stations and fewer sites, saving up to 50 percent in capital expenses and operational costs. The module features integrated transport technology, removing the need for additional hardware for connecting to transport networks. IPsec security is also built in, providing a secure tunnel between the base station and core network to protect traffic from eavesdropping, unauthorized access or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Featuring the industry's highest processing power, the System Module can run a variety of TD-LTE-Advanced software. These include Transmit Mode 9 (TM9) for high user throughput, Carrier Aggregation, and NSN's Smart Scheduler features, all of which boost site capacity from a single compact unit.